Store bought cocos nucifera

[Rickybobby]

After much delay today at the supermarket a new shipment of very small coconuts came in from Dominican. Couldn’t resist 2.50 each. Both had good amount of water. It’s too addicting   Hopefully they hold their water. I’ve learned a lot. Last year it took 3 months with the seeds over my furnace in a baggie and my first pic germinated. Today I hope to be just as successful or even better with a faster timeline using mother nature’s heat outside to help 

[Rickybobby]

From what you have read in Dominican it’s either a Malayan dwarf or the hybrid which resists disease which is Malayan dwarf and a tall cross. This seed looks a lot smaller than my Malayan dwarf 

[kinzyjr]

I don't think you have to worry about lethal yellowing where you're at, but if you're interested in reading some information about it: https://www.palms.org/palmsjournal/2002/vol46n4p185-189.pdf

[Rickybobby]

45 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

I don't think you have to worry about lethal yellowing where you're at, but if you're interested in reading some information about it: https://www.palms.org/palmsjournal/2002/vol46n4p185-189.pdf

I’m just interested in if this is the hybrid the seeds look completely different than coco I have now. I had to buy a couple and see by the time they germinate (if) and need to be in sunlight it will be next spring I know everyone on Palm talk loves the good ol coconut

[kinzyjr]

Just now, Rickybobby said:

I’m just interested in if this is the hybrid the seeds look completely different than coco I have now. I had to buy a couple and see by the time they germinate (if) and need to be in sunlight it will be next spring I know everyone on Palm talk loves the good ol coconut

Count me in on the coconut love.  I have a Malayan dwarf, 2 Jamaican Talls, and a Maypan.  The Maypan has a little more of a fuller crown than the Malayan dwarf, but certainly not as full of a crown as the Panama Tall or Jamaican Tall.  Definitely a "middle ground" hybrid from my perspective. 

You mentioned the seed was smaller.  If it was a Maypan hybrid, the seed with the husk on would be bigger than a full size NBA basketball.

[Rickybobby]

18 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Count me in on the coconut love.  I have a Malayan dwarf, 2 Jamaican Talls, and a Maypan.  The Maypan has a little more of a fuller crown than the Malayan dwarf, but certainly not as full of a crown as the Panama Tall or Jamaican Tall.  Definitely a "middle ground" hybrid from my perspective. 

You mentioned the seed was smaller.  If it was a Maypan hybrid, the seed with the husk on would be bigger than a full size NBA basketball.

Hmm ok so maybe my current coco is a hybrid and the new ones are dwarfs? Interesting thanks again 

[GottmitAlex]

3 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Count me in on the coconut love.  I have a Malayan dwarf, 2 Jamaican Talls, and a Maypan.  The Maypan has a little more of a fuller crown than the Malayan dwarf, but certainly not as full of a crown as the Panama Tall or Jamaican Tall.  Definitely a "middle ground" hybrid from my perspective. 

You mentioned the seed was smaller.  If it was a Maypan hybrid, the seed with the husk on would be bigger than a full size NBA basketball.

Agreed. Also, just by looking at the seed without the husk, it's all speculation. I have opened up Panama talls with little bitty seeds. And I have opened up green Malayan dwarfs with seeds as large as talls. In my opinion, it's quite difficult to pinpoint.

That said. Congrats RickyBobby on your new seeds. Hope they do well for you!

Keep us apprised.

[sandgroper]

Good luck with the new coconuts mate, I'm another who loves these things. Of all the palms that can be grown here in Western Australia these are my favourites without doubt, they are magnificent. 

[Rickybobby]

Here ya go guys. As I posted in another post. This guy officially cracked open his eye in 7 days. 

[Rickybobby]

I figured buying on that was from a summer shipment probably saw warmer temps and maybe no cold. The one I sprouted earlier this year was a November purchase and took 3 month. So I’m on a roll!

[Rickybobby]

Well I got ahead of myself on this one. I kept the coco in it’s bag in direct hot sun and I cooked my newly germinated seed. I did so well only taking a week to germinate. The good news it I think my second one from the. Batch may pop. Lesson learned. The one I have now I was patient and only kept it warm and didn’t try to hard

[GottmitAlex]

1 hour ago, Rickybobby said:

Well I got ahead of myself on this one. I kept the coco in it’s bag in direct hot sun and I cooked my newly germinated seed. I did so well only taking a week to germinate. The good news it I think my second one from the. Batch may pop. Lesson learned. The one I have now I was patient and only kept it warm and didn’t try to hard

Did the same thing back in '16. Took 'em out of the greenhaus into the south-facing concrete "yard" while they were in their bags... "pop goes the weasel" on one of the sprouted cocos. The sun was out that day, hence the reason for taking them on a stroll...  one of them just burst. A loud pop could be heard across the driveway. Echo and all. Water instantly gushed out of it.  It was a "it's dead, Jim" moment. I took the surviving sprout without skipping a beat back into the greenhaus until I figured out what just happened.: I left the zip lock bag closed while exposing the coco to the sun....

Same here, lesson learned. 

 

Its brother (a golden tall coco), is just beautifully growing (planted) in the garden sliver.

Edited September 20, 2018 by GottmitAlex

[sandgroper]

I've blown up several coconuts like that, doesn't happen when they still have their husks intact or has never happened to me. They're much easier to germinate too but it's much easier to pop into a shop and by a $2 coconut without a husk than to drive for a day to pick some off the ground with the husks intact.

[Rickybobby]

Hey everyone my one year old coconut had a root rot out. I knew it was off a tad. I pulled it up. Cut the root off. I know Ive struggled with coconut soil mix. New roots have tried to merge from the top but rotted shortly after from moisture up top. So I have let the trunk expose a tad o let that area not stay too moist. Do you think this is ok? Also my soil is now a mix of wood chips and promix hp. Which is perlite and peat. Originally was just promix when I saw the first root issue. I’m looking for ideas maybe add some pea stone to the mix. Since everything is indoors. Sorry to mention it’s potted

this coco is my baby my first supermarket germinated nut. The other roots look good and are growing new side shoots 

[Rickybobby]

Do you guys think the wood chips is helping to hold too much moisture I know it helps drain the water out. But risidual is a different story. I really don’t wa t to loose this palm 

[NOT A TA]

Here they grow in our sand. It's just really sandy crappy soil you wouldn't think held enough nutrients to sustain plant life.  Water pours through it quickly.   I pot the Cocos using the sand with about 5-10% organic matter mixed into it and the leaves seem a bit darker than when I just use the sand.  The potted ones I water when dry or wait a day or two longer on occasion if I'm too busy. Once established in the ground here there's no need to water unless we have an extended dry spell and even then only to keep them from looking thirsty.

I see a lot of Canadian license plates "in season" here in Palm Beach County. You need to find someone who drives down and give them a big bucket to fill with our sand ahahaha.

Are you using rain water, well water, city water? When you say "wood chips" what exactly are they? You may be messing with the nitrogen cycle and/or creating a breeding area with abnormally high levels of decay organisms & bacteria. Are you letting the soil dry out? Where is the plant? Nut still attached? How warm is it? Pot on the floor or on a table? Grow lights on timers? Humidity? When trying to grow a plant out of it's comfort zone you need to try and approximate all aspects of it's desired environment because you don't know which ones affect it the most unless someone with experience instructs you. A plant under stress is more vulnerable.

As just one example, sunrise to sunset here today was 10.5 hours Vs Toronto's 9 with a huge difference in intensity. Couple that with using light filtered by glass and probably not even getting your full day of natural sunlight coming through windows (unless greenhouse).

 

[sandgroper]

Here coconuts just grow in sand, the one in my garden is growing in what is virtually beach sand, very free draining. Could the wood chips be causing air pockets in the soil? When I've had them in pots I've just potted them in sand. Could you get a bag of kids sand pit sand from a landscapers and repot it in that?

[Rickybobby]

I found that kids play sand or even sand from soil. (I live in a sand bent) the sand would just stay as muck and the water wouldn’t drain through well

the room it is in now is 75f it has its own led plant light. The wood chips are like a fine mulch but it really helps to get the water through. The palm is only 18” high from the pot. Pot on a table off the floor 

i thought we wanted some slight air to help get to the roots to prevent rot?

[jimmyt]

I tried this a couple of times and started out well only to fail after lift-off.  So when I was departing the Hawaiian Islands via Honolulu airport in Nov 2017.  I saw a packaged sprouted Cocos "suitcasea" , in the airport shop, bought it and stuffed it in my suit-case.   Now look at it.  It is in the greenhouse for winter.  Yardstick for sizing it.  It tolerates full Texas sun and temps > 100 F.    

 

jimmyt

[jimmyt]

.......Sorry November 2016. 

[Rickybobby]

My two year old loves picking out coconuts at the supermarket. This is my record for germination at 4 days! A lot of mistakes I made with my one year old. I hope to have learned with my next batch 

[Zeeth]

Here are my two supermarket coconuts:

[Rickybobby]

My second seed I had in my station germinated today as well. This is so fun and addicting. I hope to figure out the next step better so I can make them thrive better 

[Zeeth]

Btw, since most of the coconuts in the US come from the Dominican Republic, I'm attaching a paper that some may find useful. Here's a quote from it:

"The predominant coconut variety cultivated in the Dominican Republic is a local Tall, known as criollo... The Malayan Dwarf and its hybrid with the local Tall are also present."

Martinez2010_Article_CharacterizationOfTheGeneticDi.pdf

[sandgroper]

I've joined the club! I bought two coconuts from the shop yesterday morning and dropped them into a bucket of water and when I checked them after work today one had a shoot starting!

[GottmitAlex]

7 hours ago, sandgroper said:

I've joined the club! I bought two coconuts from the shop yesterday morning and dropped them into a bucket of water and when I checked them after work today one had a shoot starting!

Nice one!!

[Rickybobby]

At the store yesterday I saw one with 50 percent off tag. I thought it was weird. Picked it up. It germinated in the store and the tissue bottomed against the plastic wrapper and smushed itself. Crazy I couldn’t resist and also bought this bad boy. I know some don’t make it so strength in numbers for me 

its the biggest one I’ve ever seen at a store here 

[Rickybobby]

My 2 month coco that I decided to plant ina pot today. It’s a gift for a good friend 

[Rickybobby]