Why is my coconut scorching?

[Rhizophora]

Hi,

I brought back a coconut from Florida back in December, and it germinated around March, the plant has been growing steadily and still is (1 frond/month), but the fronds are starting to yellow and go brown around the outside edges. It was perfectly healthy until the third frond emerged, then the yellowing started to happen. It's more prominent in the newer, bigger fronds while the older smaller fronds are much less affected. I put it outside on warm dry days (above 18C), and on cooler days it's kept in a sunless windowsill on a heat mat. It's watered regularly and misted daily. It's growing at a steady rate, but even the tips of the emerging frond seem to be turning yellow. I checked for mites too. Any idea on what the cause could be?

Thanks in advance!

Edited August 23, 2011 by Rhizophora

[Adam from Oz]

Coconuts aren't suited to be houseplants and temps above 18C are not what it would consider to be warm. Over 30C, yes!

I'd say it's dying in that sunless window. Glad to be proven wrong.

Cheers,

Adam

[Trópico]

It still looks gorgeous The symptom may be due to low humidity. Warm air > 28°C is what the Coconut likes to see during the day, and abundant sunlight. Warm air carries plenty of humidity with it. Better to build a clear hot house outdoors if you want that gorgeous coconut to live.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I grew a coconut in a window just like that once... It made it for 10 years.

lighting isnt so important at this stage. Remember in the jungle coconuts will often fall off a tree and sprout deep inside a dark forest canopy, eventually making it to the sunlight years later.

At this stage NO fertilizer is needed.

Believe it or not they can have a buildup of salts in the soil.

My advice is to water this palm deeply everything you water. then wait a couple of days for the soil to slighly dry out before rewatering.

If at all possable use rainwater. No clorine .

If you cant use rainwater try distilled water from the grocery store. This will flush out the soil.

Jeff

[The Silent Seed]

Guys,

I agree - it's not the lighting - it looks very good, other than for the leaf tips - that could be low humidity.

JEFF - what happened to it, after 10 years? How big did it get?

So, you think an accumulation of salts in the soil is causing this leaf-tip damage? Never heard of that before. Interesting.

[Trópico]

Realize that the light levels of the dark forest canopy are considerably higher than indoors- your eyes adapt and make it look deceptively brighter than it is. But close to the window does just fine imo. Yes, the low humidity is causing the minor tip burn, maybe the salts in the soil. But- aren't coconuts used to salt water?

[Peter Pacific]

Coconuts are fast growers and have incredibly complex root systems which seem to traverse my whole yard. Just a guess, but I would think this little guy needs a bigger pot. I'm sure we've all seen the designers magazines that have beautiful coconut palms in a 4 inch deep pot but, even though they make stunning photographs, it's an illusion. Good Luck. Peter

[Rhizophora]

I'ves started watering it with rainwater now, hopefully it will hault the spread of the yellowing after some time! Peter, I thought coconut palms did surprisingly well in pots, there are even pictures of bonsai coconuts in really small pots! Thanks

[PalmatierMeg]

I agree with low humidity. I also agree the tiny pot is not good. There are techniques and procedures I'm not familiar with to bonsai any plant, including coconuts. Get a bigger/deeper pot and make sure your potting mix drains well. Watering with rainwater and occasional distilled water is good. Coconuts want heat, humidity and sun. I see no problem keeping plant in a sunny window. 18C is not all that warm for them and they won't photosynthesize below 10C. Chilly temps and rain can be deadly.

[sebasroch]

my coconut its also like that, i think its normal

[rprimbs]

Yeah, it's just too dry inside. It would like the humidity outside much better.

[sebasroch]

well not necesary, im in lima, and the humidity is very high, but the coconut its from sullana, piura, peru.

[rprimbs]

well not necesary, im in lima, and the humidity is very high, but the coconut its from sullana, piura, peru.

Okay, maybe it's a little stressed because it doesn't have much of a root system yet?? Maybe it will look better once the roots grow and take hold -- and it can take up more water?

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Guys,

I agree - it's not the lighting - it looks very good, other than for the leaf tips - that could be low humidity.

JEFF - what happened to it, after 10 years? How big did it get?

So, you think an accumulation of salts in the soil is causing this leaf-tip damage? Never heard of that before. Interesting.

Perhaps I shoulda said accumulation of fertilizer salts.

On mine, I'd give it a little miracle grow once per year.... I doubt it was needed.

Now that I look back, my coconut's potting soil looked spent. I probably shoulda transplanted it more often. It was getting big and outgrowing its pot.

I got the idea to try to grow a cocos indoors because I once saw a huge one growing inside an office building.... it actually was growing some bare trunk! It was near a window, but also had plenty of flouresant lights during the day.

jeff

[sebasroch]

hey guys, my coconut is still with the nut, do i remove it?

[Rhizophora]

hey guys, my coconut is still with the nut, do i remove it?

I reckon you should wait until it rots off; there are roots growing through the coir which you could damage if you remove the nut!

Jeff, do you have a photo of your indoor Cocos? And I saw a pic of a coconut in an office, it looked perfect... But I can't find the photo anywhere anymore!

It would appear that the spread of the burning has been stopped, with the new frond almost untouched! I've been watering it with rainwater lately, and upped the misting. It's still growing steadily, a new spear has been emerging at the rate of about 2 inches per week. Probably slow compared to the speed they usually grow at, but I think as long as a coconut is growing, it's doing ok. I reckon the main reason indoor Cocos die is either because they're weak hothouse seedlings that cannot tolerate change, or a lack of heat. Hopefully the heat mat will keep it happy over winter! I've seen HUGE coconuts in tiny pots, and I thought they had a small rootball anyway? I'm not keen on repotting it because I thought they resent root disturbance, and it would be damaging to do it this late into the growing season (the growing season is very short where I live).. What do you think? Thanks for the advice

[sebasroch]

ooh, well i do it , it was easy, i damaged a few , but several are intact, with no effort i got of the nut , only rotated it. After that i opened the nut and it was rotted, smell bad , so i think i was good to remove. good luck guys

[Rhizophora]

Maybe by damaging a few roots, you might stunt the palm and it would form a kind of coconut bonsai..? Good luck with it, if you have any photos, then please post them! I found an Indonesian website a while ago, with info on how to bonsai a coconut palm... According to the instructions, the trick seems to be removing the husk of the coconut when the palm is very small, exposing the roots. Here's the website: How to Bonsai a Coconut . There's a guy who keeps posting in here trying to advertise his coconut bonsai business, it looks like this might be his secret. I'm too scared to do it to mine, but I might try and start up a supermarket coconut and see if I can simulate a husk with sphagnum, and then remove it..

[Rhizophora]

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fexperiamus.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fcara-membuat-bonsai-kelapa.html Here's a better site, with actual photos of the process.

[sebasroch]

look at mine

[sebasroch]

pics

[Rhizophora]

Ahh your coconut seems quite young to have the nut removed! How's it doing? I have an update on mine, it has been growing fine in a sunless window on a heat mat for the last month, but in the last week we've had stunning weather so I put it outside in the sun every day. A few days ago I took the palm out of the pot and added some new soil at the bottom, and I was surprised to find that the soil was really dry, despite me watering it well every other day! I think this might be the cause behind the browning. Days were about 20-25 degrees C and sunny with some haze. Needless to say, growth has been impressive. Using a permanent marker, I drew lines across the spear and the petioles at the side to see the growth rate! This is how much it has grown in 2 days (one night): .

Since the last photo it finished putting out that frond and is halfway through pushing out a new one. It looks stunning, especially the new frond, although there is some browning at the tips

And finally, I had a great surprise today while checking it for mites and mealybugs:

A split! It might not be a big deal but I've never grown a coconut into the phase where its leaves begin to split before. Any ideas on the cultivar? I have a feeling it might be a Green Malay Dwarf, since it's more compact than other coconut palms I've grown, and it's split quite early on. I can't quite remember the palm I collected it from.

[mlovecan]

If you bought the plant at B&Q / Homebase or any of the supermarkets that occoasionaly sell them, it is from a man in Holland named Kwekerj Verkade. The plant would have come in a Plastic clay-colored pot barely big enough for the coconut itself. Kwekerj told me the strain of coconut he uses is "Phillipine Green" that he purchases in Costa Rico. It is a tall varity and I believe it is the same as that known as Panama Tall.

regards

Maurice

Edited to add: I must start paying attention to the original post! I see you got the plant in Florida - it does look similar to the Dutch ones though.

Edited October 4, 2011 by mlovecan

[sebasroch]

hey guuys my coconut die, but i buy a new one from lurin peru, a few miles south from lima, its like 3 feet tall and its green, still have the coconut on it

[jimjpr]

I've had this happen to my other indoor plants as well and I live in S Florida. If you're using tap water, try letting it sit for several days in the watering can to "distill." That's what we do and haven't had any problems with brown tips, yellowing etc. I gave a coconut seed from one of my trees to my brother who grows it in New York...it puts out a frond every 12-16 months and looks just fine. He does the same things you are doing, setting it out on warm days, misting, watering thoroughly once per week. Albeit the conditions are not optimal and it's not the happiest coconut in the world but it is doing just fine, all things considered. Jim

[sebasroch]

hey i bought, 2 more coconuts , of the 3 one its a combination of a hawaiian yellow with the tipical green , the other is green , and the last one is yellow type. ill put pictures

[sebasroch]

here they are

[Palmberries]

Hello everyone I was reading over your chats and I have a similar problem . Mine looks a little more severe unfortunately wondering if anyone had any ideas . I was going to apply magnets sulphate to maybe aid photosynthesis. But I don’t want to damage anything if it’s to fragile to treat. I spray every two weeks neem oil. I should just daily but it’s more every other day I do have a humidifier always running . The very new fronds looks scorched and the two oldest fronds are not looking healthy. One is brown outer and yellowing. The second oldest frond is browning and kindA lime green . Now just today it’s browning on the top of a few fronds that shouldn’t . I noticed a couple weeks ago my coconut was starting to gather mold so I wiped it off and wiped with hydrogen peroxide cleared the bark chips around from the base and now the coconut is back to being hard and looks completely healthy. Maybe I should change the soil to be sandier too? This plant was fertilized  half a palm spike ,nothing to excessive.  I really don’t want my coconut palm to die  any suggestions ? The base is hard and not mooshhy .  There also seems to little paper cuts in the green fronds  . Shrug why ?!