Coconuts

[Ubuntwo]

Some local coconuts....

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Ubuntwo

[palmfriend]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:57 AM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hi Lars, 

It looks like it may be a Golden Malayan Dwarf, with its bright orangish golden colored petioles and straight trunk.

John

P.S.   Post some pics of your other Coconut Palms.

 

Hi John,

I will gladly post some pics but give me some more time.  At the moment I am unfortuantely witnessing an unprecedented attack on ALL of my 

trunking palms by countless rhinoceros beetles and I am not sure if I can get it under control. My until now best looking coconut palms are heavily

infested, I haven't seen a new spear on all of them for months. It is a tragedy! Currently I am spraying/diluting cocktails of hopefully really unappetizing 

substances (for those beetles) in the crowns and at the bottoms of all of my palms every week - we will see how it will turn out. If there are no signs of a

turn-around on my worst looking palms until next summer, I got to make some decisions... I am just wondering how those countless and completely free of care

growing (pretty tall) coconut palms survived on this island... When I check their trunks for signs of a beetle attack I am often surprised how many holes

(caused by those beetles) I can find but they often went on growing unharmed - which gives me hope...

 

Al right, I will post updates -

best regards 

 

Lars

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, palmfriend said:

Hi John,

I will gladly post some pics but give me some more time.  At the moment I am unfortuantely witnessing an unprecedented attack on ALL of my 

trunking palms by countless rhinoceros beetles and I am not sure if I can get it under control. My until now best looking coconut palms are heavily

infested, I haven't seen a new spear on all of them for months. It is a tragedy! Currently I am spraying/diluting cocktails of hopefully really unappetizing 

substances (for those beetles) in the crowns and at the bottoms of all of my palms every week - we will see how it will turn out. If there are no signs of a

turn-around on my worst looking palms until next summer, I got to make some decisions... I am just wondering how those countless and completely free of care

growing (pretty tall) coconut palms survived on this island... When I check their trunks for signs of a beetle attack I am often surprised how many holes

(caused by those beetles) I can find but they often went on growing unharmed - which gives me hope...

 

Al right, I will post updates -

best regards 

 

Lars

Hey Lars,

Sorry to hear that!!!  I hope you can stop those monsters!!!  I had to fight one that was attacking my Maymex Hybrid Coconut Palm that I had about 2.5 years ago.  I finally flushed it out of its hole adjacent to the trunk with a hose (lots of water) and some Dawn dish detergent, then promptly killed it once I had it out of there!!!  I hope all your palms will be okay.

John

[EJPalm05]

there needs to be more coconuts in the Canary Islands as they probably can produce fruit that is viable!

[GottmitAlex]

Very windy day!

73F 

[palmsOrl]

One of my Jamaican talls from forum member Redant.

-Michael 

[redant]

16 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

One of my Jamaican talls from forum member Redant.

-Michael 

Seems to be doing well.

 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 1/7/2022 at 4:23 PM, Ubuntwo said:

Some local coconuts....

 

Really nice looking.  I sure wish we could grow them like that here.  They can get to be almost that big/good looking in the Brownsville/South Padre area, though.

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 1/8/2022 at 8:41 AM, EJ NJ said:

there needs to be more coconuts in the Canary Islands as they probably can produce fruit that is viable!

You are right, there needs to be A LOT MORE of them in the Canary Islands, as well as a LOT MORE in Madeira.  They DO actually produce lots of good viable nuts on the palms in the Canaries, especially in areas where they get adequate rainfall, or plenty of watering.

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 1/15/2022 at 5:20 PM, GottmitAlex said:

Very windy day!

73F 

Looking good, Alex.  Keep up the good work!!!

John

[Nicko_StPete]

On 1/5/2022 at 9:00 PM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hey  Nicko,

Post some pics.  I really want to see your 40+ Coconut Palms in your yard!!!  Amazing to have that many!!!

John

 

Will do my friend!!!

[cbraunig]

Hey guys! Trying to get this coconut thread going again! Does anyone know how/ where I can get myself a copy of Dave Romney’s book Growing coconuts in South Florida. Does anyone have extra copies? I would really like to buy one and learn everything about coconuts and have Dave’s infamous knowledge live on for years to come! 

[Alicante]

On 1/8/2022 at 3:41 PM, EJ NJ said:

there needs to be more coconuts in the Canary Islands as they probably can produce fruit that is viable!

 

On 1/17/2022 at 5:38 PM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

You are right, there needs to be A LOT MORE of them in the Canary Islands, as well as a LOT MORE in Madeira.  They DO actually produce lots of good viable nuts on the palms in the Canaries, especially in areas where they get adequate rainfall, or plenty of watering.

John

I agree with both, but fortunately they are becoming more common down there and there are actually thousands and thousands of coconuts in all of the islands that form the Canarian Archipelago! Unless in the 2 smaller ones and in the islet where there are only a handful of them as there no one cares about gardening in overall rather than the "normal" species. Which is a pity because they grow everywhere. By average means, Lanzarote is the "coldest" island yet it has hundreds of giant coconuts, I've have on my bookmarks a massive resort that has dozens of at least 15M / 50 FT coconuts that obviously produce giant ripe fruits every year. Don't get too far from this thread as I'll post these pics soon! 

Unfortunately all of my stored pics went down (they were once on this forum) as everything I've posted on PalmTalk since my arrival here in 2009 was uploaded by myself in Tinypic, and this hosting site went down a couple of years ago and they also didn't give me the chance to save everything I had... I didn't use my cloud hosting for palm pics. Lesson learned though, as now I save online also everything related to beautiful palms. I won't repeat the same mistake again, +15 years compiling palm pics and most are gone.  

PS. Climate of Lanzarote with C/F temps in case if you're interested. 1981-2010 official normals from the Airport, 1991-2020 ones will be published this year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanzarote#Climate http://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos?l=C029O&k=coo

[palmsOrl]

All of my Cocos came through with minimal or no damage.

God Bless the United States of America!

-Michael

[GottmitAlex]

8C. Lights came on:

I know, I'm cheating. 

(Mind you no tarps at all. Even for the small ones)

 

[guygee]

13 hours ago, cbraunig said:

Hey guys! Trying to get this coconut thread going again! Does anyone know how/ where I can get myself a copy of Dave Romney’s book Growing coconuts in South Florida. Does anyone have extra copies? I would really like to buy one and learn everything about coconuts and have Dave’s infamous knowledge live on for years to come! 

Not sure if this information is current, but you can follow this link for the author's address, apparently the book is only available from him:

http://www1.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/library/palms/vpe_references2.htm

[Alicante]

Some of my favorite coconuts from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) are these from this hotel. How tall must be the tallest ones? The hotel has 5 floors without counting the terrace and it seems they have already reached the size of the rooftop! Maybe around 60 feet? On the 3rd pic, notice the beautifully curved one on the left. Nice Caribbean Vibes! 






 

[Than]

5 hours ago, Alicante said:

Some of my favorite coconuts from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) are these from this hotel. How tall must be the tallest ones? The hotel has 5 floors without counting the terrace and it seems they have already reached the size of the rooftop! Maybe around 60 feet? On the 3rd pic, notice the beautifully curved one on the left. Nice Caribbean Vibes! 






 

Have mercy

You're in zone 11a apparently, so you could easily grow coconuts in your garden.

[GottmitAlex]

Daytime pic of the narrow garden.

 

[Alicante]

2 hours ago, ego said:

Have mercy

You're in zone 11a apparently, so you could easily grow coconuts in your garden.

I wish I could haha, indeed I live in a very mild and sheltered microclimate as the nearby mountains that almost get in the sea shelter us, although when getting out of the town (that means no concrete streets and no streetlight) the zone gets down to 10b which is still "suitable" for a coconut. But it's impossible, it's the lack of real winter warmth. And by real winter warmth I mean several days with highs above 25ºC and that doesn't happen here until March or April. Raveneas (coconut lookalike) grow very nice though. That's enough for me! 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Alicante

[Than]

6 minutes ago, Alicante said:

I wish I could haha, indeed I live in a very mild and sheltered microclimate as the nearby mountains that almost get in the sea shelter us, although when getting out of the town (that means no concrete streets and no streetlight) the zone gets down to 10b which is still supposedly "suitable" for a coconut. But it's impossible, it's the lack of real winter warmth. And by real winter warmth I mean several days with highs above 25ºC and that doesn't happen here until March or April. Raveneas (coconut lookalike) grow very nice though! 

True you need not just high minimums but also maximums. Btw Ravenea does not look like a coconut to me, with this thick trunk..

[Alicante]

2 minutes ago, ego said:

True you need not just high minimums but also maximums. Btw Ravenea does not look like a coconut to me, with this thick trunk..

That's true, but their fronds are very beautiful. Beccariophoenix Alfredii is the most coconut lookalike and it's very hardy but it has a very slow growth rate. 

PS. Look at these Raveneas in their natural habitat. A small Ravenea jungle. If you ignore the trunk part, they resemble coconuts from far! 

[Than]

10 hours ago, Alicante said:

That's true, but their fronds are very beautiful. Beccariophoenix Alfredii is the most coconut lookalike and it's very hardy but it has a very slow growth rate. 

PS. Look at these Raveneas in their natural habitat. A small Ravenea jungle. If you ignore the trunk part, they resemble coconuts from far! 

True. Their trunk gets thinner as they grow. Tbh I find their fat trunk when they're young unappealing. Do they grow fast?

[Zeeth]

On 2/3/2022 at 1:18 AM, guygee said:

Not sure if this information is current, but you can follow this link for the author's address, apparently the book is only available from him:

http://www1.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/library/palms/vpe_references2.htm

Unfortunately Dave Romney has passed away. I have a scanned copy of the book though. 

Growing_Coconuts_in_South_Florida.pdf

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Got through the late Jan cold without falling below freezing. 2 nights of 34 and 35. But the last week was very cool with 5 of 8 days having high temps between 55 and 61.  Damage is showing but doesn't appear to be lethal. 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 2/2/2022 at 2:10 PM, Alicante said:

 

I agree with both, but fortunately they are becoming more common down there and there are actually thousands and thousands of coconuts in all of the islands that form the Canarian Archipelago! Unless in the 2 smaller ones and in the islet where there are only a handful of them as there no one cares about gardening in overall rather than the "normal" species. Which is a pity because they grow everywhere. By average means, Lanzarote is the "coldest" island yet it has hundreds of giant coconuts, I've have on my bookmarks a massive resort that has dozens of at least 15M / 50 FT coconuts that obviously produce giant ripe fruits every year. Don't get too far from this thread as I'll post these pics soon! 

Unfortunately all of my stored pics went down (they were once on this forum) as everything I've posted on PalmTalk since my arrival here in 2009 was uploaded by myself in Tinypic, and this hosting site went down a couple of years ago and they also didn't give me the chance to save everything I had... I didn't use my cloud hosting for palm pics. Lesson learned though, as now I save online also everything related to beautiful palms. I won't repeat the same mistake again, +15 years compiling palm pics and most are gone.  

PS. Climate of Lanzarote with C/F temps in case if you're interested. 1981-2010 official normals from the Airport, 1991-2020 ones will be published this year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanzarote#Climate http://www.aemet.es/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos?l=C029O&k=coo

Wow,  it looks like Lanzarote is EXTREMELY DRY, averaging only 4.37 inches of rainfall annually!!!  That is about as Desert as Desert can get!!!

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 2/4/2022 at 2:46 PM, Alicante said:

I wish I could haha, indeed I live in a very mild and sheltered microclimate as the nearby mountains that almost get in the sea shelter us, although when getting out of the town (that means no concrete streets and no streetlight) the zone gets down to 10b which is still "suitable" for a coconut. But it's impossible, it's the lack of real winter warmth. And by real winter warmth I mean several days with highs above 25ºC and that doesn't happen here until March or April. Raveneas (coconut lookalike) grow very nice though. That's enough for me! 

If you had an average high temp of at least 18.5C (65.3F) during your coldest month of winter, as well as an average low of at least 10C (50F), during your coldest month of winter, you could grow them in your climate, especially if they were planted in a somewhat sheltered microclimate.  This is about what my average high/low temps are in January (the coldest month where I live in coastal Corpus Christi, Texas).  You would have the added advantage that you are in a Zone 11A Climate and never, or very rarely freeze, whereas here where I live, we have the occasional freeze, or like this year 3 freezes at my place, and we have days on end at times with highs only in the 40'sF and 50'sF, with light rain sometimes.  This makes it very difficult for us to successfully grow them here, compared to some place like the Canary Islands, but we can grow them here to maturity between BAD Winters, provided they are planted large enough (8ft. to 10ft. tall at time of planting, and planted from late March to early May to give them plenty of time to get established before the following winter), and provided they are grown ALL ORGANICALLY (which adds about 2F to 3F more cold hardiness to them).  What actually makes it possible for us to grow them at all here, even though we get some really chilly weather at times, is that we also get a good amount of days with high temps in the 70'sF, and even a few days with high temps in the 80'sF.  This fact seems to at least somewhat counter balance our chilly days, thus making it possible to grow them here, with some amount of effort.

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 2/5/2022 at 9:09 PM, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Got through the late Jan cold without falling below freezing. 2 nights of 34 and 35. But the last week was very cool with 5 of 8 days having high temps between 55 and 61.  Damage is showing but doesn't appear to be lethal. 

What is the white barricade for?

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 2/10/2022 at 12:33 AM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

What is the white barricade for?

cold protection.  The propane heater is to the left.

[Than]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:08 AM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

If you had an average high temp of at least 18.5C (65.3F) during your coldest month of winter, as well as an average low of at least 10C (50F), during your coldest month of winter, you could grow them in your climate, especially if they were planted in a somewhat sheltered microclimate.  This is about what my average high/low temps are in January (the coldest month where I live in coastal Corpus Christi, Texas).  You would have the added advantage that you are in a Zone 11A Climate and never, or very rarely freeze, whereas here where I live, we have the occasional freeze, or like this year 3 freezes at my place, and we have days on end at times with highs only in the 40'sF and 50'sF, with light rain sometimes.  This makes it very difficult for us to successfully grow them here, compared to some place like the Canary Islands, but we can grow them here to maturity between BAD Winters, provided they are planted large enough (8ft. to 10ft. tall at time of planting, and planted from late March to early May to give them plenty of time to get established before the following winter), and provided they are grown ALL ORGANICALLY (which adds about 2F to 3F more cold hardiness to them).  What actually makes it possible for us to grow them at all here, even though we get some really chilly weather at times, is that we also get a good amount of days with high temps in the 70'sF, and even a few days with high temps in the 80'sF.  This fact seems to at least somewhat counter balance our chilly days, thus making it possible to grow them here, with some amount of effort.

John

Forgive my ignorance. What do you mean by grow organically and how does this add to their hardiness?

[Ubuntwo]

1 hour ago, ego said:

Forgive my ignorance. What do you mean by grow organically and how does this add to their hardiness?

Growing organically entails omitting synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Here's an overview of organic fertilizer for coconuts. Organic fertilizers like wood mulch, blood meal, ash, and manure gradually produce an aerated topsoil ripe with nutrients and healthy microbes. The net result is a healthier (and hardier) palm. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

I-Drive coconut in Orlando faring well.

[Zeeth]

I'm in Honolulu at the moment and there are plenty of coconuts. Here are some of the highlights so far though:

One of the biggest Niu Leka (Fiji/Samoa Dwarf) coconuts I've seen:

 

Coconuts near Diamond Head Beach Park:

 

Some nice full crowned coconuts on the windward coast:

Coconut on the trail to Manoa Falls:

Coconuts at Lyon Arboretum:

[Than]

8 hours ago, Ubuntwo said:

Growing organically entails omitting synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Here's an overview of organic fertilizer for coconuts. Organic fertilizers like wood mulch, blood meal, ash, and manure gradually produce an aerated topsoil ripe with nutrients and healthy microbes. The net result is a healthier (and hardier) palm. 

Interesting. What if I combine both organic and synthetic fertilizers? 

[GottmitAlex]

This thread was asking for it.

Good morning everyone. 

[cbraunig]

One of the more photo accessible Cocos on Cocoa Beach today. Not bearing fruit but otherwise a beautiful healthy looking tree. 

[palmsOrl]

On 2/4/2022 at 1:48 PM, GottmitAlex said:

Daytime pic of the narrow garden.

 

Looking good.  You will have a row of trunking Cocos in 3-4 years.

God Bless America

-Michael

[GottmitAlex]

1 minute ago, palmsOrl said:

Looking good.  You will have a row of trunking Cocos in 3-4 years.

God Bless America

-Michael

Thanks Mike.

 

God bless America.

 

Alex

[Alicante]

These are some of the Coconuts from Puerto de La Cruz in Tenerife. Canary Islands, Spain. Latitude above 28.40N or 28º 25' N.


















They also have a "Howea Jungle" in some kind of Natural Park with birds that's named Loro Parque, translated that's called Parrot's Park. 

[GottmitAlex]

At 25C 7:30pm! (Feb 13th) middle of winter. Sprayed 'em with water due to lack of humidity.