Coconuts

[Kai 816]

Any frost tolerant coconuts engineered yet? Come on science, hurry up!

I want a C nucifera "Amsterdam tall"

[Pal Meir 5,258]

Any frost tolerant coconuts engineered yet? Come on science, hurry up!

I want a C nucifera "Amsterdam tall"

Neither frost-hardy nor in Amsterdam, but a sprout from a »normal« commercial coconut grown up in frosty German January 1972:

Another coconut in 1974 and 3 years later in 1977, completely grown inside a living room:

And the sad remnant of this palm in 1981, after getting too tall for a living room:

Here 2 babies naturally sprouting on Green Island / Queensland in 1979:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Planted this little Panama Tall this afternoon.

That's going to look so nice in a few years!

[Cocoa Beach Jason 559]

Zeeth, thanks! I am very glad to have a source for these tall coconuts. I have a bunch of dwarfs and they are doing great but I wanted some talls bc they are beautiful. I am also hoping to get a degree or two extra cold tolerance from them. The parent plants are in Merritt Island and amazing looking with the biggest bowl trunk-bases I have ever seen around here. They are all by themselves so I hope they are as similar to mother plant as can be.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Cocoa Beach Jason

[Danilopez89 651]

Here's the coconut palm tree in La Quinta Ca.

Just saw it a few minutes ago, so I can say that it hasn't been wacked yet!

Like the one in Palm Desert Ca.

Here's what it used to look like

[DoomsDave 8,846]

Sob!

[palmsOrl 1,620]

I can't believe somebody chopped that coconut down. That is the largest specimen I have ever seen a photo of growing in California! Much bigger than the now rip Newport Beach Cocos.

Regarding the Tall varieties, the best/easiest way I know of to get one is to order Pacific Tall sprouts online from sources like eBay, or look on eBay for Coconuts being sold where the parent tree is pictured and is a probable Tall variety. There had been some auctions selling sprouted nuts from the FL Keys that were likely Jamaican Tall. If you like in Central FL, make a trip to Kopsick. I have two small palms planted out from there, so far.

[JasminInYarpshire 0]

Is anyone here still trying Cocos in Perth, now Tyrone is down south? I'd love to see what's been achieved.

[IHB1979 235]

Here are some around my neighborhood. Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. This is coastal Brevard county about 12 miles south of Cocoa Beach.

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here are some good pics I got yesterday:

Panama talls:

Base of Panama tall:

Panama tall by water. I got a coconut from this one:

Another shot:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Nawasi tall:

Off-type Fiji dwarf demonstrating tall-type growth habit:

Row of Fiji dwarf:

Fiji dwarf:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Dwarf Red Spicata:

Coconuts of Dwarf Red Spicata:

[Danilopez89 651]

Sweet pics Keith! Where is that at? Did you only collect one coconut?

[Cluster 459]

Wow! That panama Tall, I know I would also take its coconuts:) The Fiji Dwarfs are equally awesome, the stiff leaves and their width make it clearly distinguishable. So jealous:) Nice pictures

[Danilopez89 651]

IMG_2971.JPG

Looks like yours Pando...

[Zeeth 2,289]

Sweet pics Keith! Where is that at? Did you only collect one coconut?

Thanks! I took the pics at Fairchild while I was there yesterday for the mango festival. I ended up collecting a coconut from the Panama tall by the water and one from the Nawasi tall (that was planted in 1926!), as well as a sprouted Nawasi tall and a Red Spicata. I'll upload some pics later of my collection.

[Danilopez89 651]

Sweet pics Keith! Where is that at? Did you only collect one coconut?

Thanks! I took the pics at Fairchild while I was there yesterday for the mango festival. I ended up collecting a coconut from the Panama tall by the water and one from the Nawasi tall (that was planted in 1926!), as well as a sprouted Nawasi tall and a Red Spicata. I'll upload some pics later of my collection.

Ohh! Sweet! Sounds exciting.

One day I'll drive a truckload of coconuts out here from Florida. that'll excite me!

[redant 1,197]

I was potting up some coconut sprouts from a community pot yesterday when I found this..

[redant 1,197]

The operation seems to be a success.

[Coconutman 13]

I was potting up some coconut sprouts from a community pot yesterday when I found this..

Never see that before...that coconut sprout went into the other coconut!

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here are some pics of my collection. My oldest coconuts don't have trunk yet, but it should look pretty nice in a few years.

Coconuts from Fairchild, Panama tall on left and Nawasi tall on the right:

Brand-new sprout from a local coconut:

Here's a picture of the parent of the newly sprouted coconut. It's growing in Palmetto not too far from my garden:

Base of the local coconut:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Nawasi tall seedling:

Jamaican tall seedling from the tallest Jamaican tall on Anna Maria Island:

Here's the parent palm. It's hard to depict it's height because the majority of it's trunk is hidden by the Seagrape and the palm itself sits in a low-spot, but it's nearly as tall as the Nawasi tall in person:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here's a Jamaican tall grown from one of the two at Kopsick. It was damaged by a malfunctioning Christmas light in January that overheated and burned through the palm. The new leaves have come out shorter than they were pre-burn but it's recovering very nicely:

Here's what it looked like post-burn

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here are my two orange petiole Hawaiian tall coconuts. I got these 22 months ago from Gaia-Yoga nursery in Hawaii as "Select tall" types. This was the description: "These are our most-prized drinking nuts. If you want the best-tasting, most-productive coconuts, then these are the sprouts for you! We personally select these coconuts because they're highly productive (20-40 nuts a month, or more), they're very sweet and delicious, and they have a thin husk (which means there's a high percentage of juice in relation to the size of the nut)."

Here's my green petiole Hawaiian tall coconut that I got in 2010 as an unsprouted coconut from Garrin in Hawaii. It's actually one year younger than my biggest Jamaican tall but it's a little faster growing (it was bigger than the Jamaican tall even before the JT got damage) The tree that it came from was growing wild near the ocean in Hilo and grows much differently than the orange petiole Hawaiian talls (I suspect that they are two distinct varieties based on a number of factors). It saw 27 F in 2010 without much damage and is never affected by white-fly (which the orange petiole ones need periodic sprays with water to cut down on). Overall this is one of my favorite coconuts in my collection:

Here's my Panama tall that came from Dave Romney (the coconut expert). It seems that a high percentage of the Panama talls that he sells have orange petioles, but all of the ones at Fairchild have green petioles (and I expect the coconut I got from there to as well).

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here is a Tahiti red dwarf. It's an interesting variety, but hasn't been cold tested in my yard yet. The coconuts from it are really tiny but it has a good color.

Here's a dwarf red spicata. I suspect that this variety is actually a spicata variation of the Tahiti red dwarf, as the coconut size, shape and color, as well as the growth habit and color of the tree are identical. Both varieties also have yellow on the newest section of the emergent leaf like is evident in this picture. I will be keeping an eye on the two coconuts to see how similar the varieties actually are outside of the DRS being spicata and the TRD not being spicata.

Here is a coconut from one of the big ones at Selby Gardens. The adult tree itself looks like a Panama tall, but the coconuts from it are intermediate between Panama tall and Malayan dwarf (so it's likely a Maypan).

Here is a picture of the parent trees:

[Zeeth 2,289]

Here are my two Criollo talls from the Dominican Republic. This variety falls within the Atlantic tall group, but is apparently a little more closely related to the Mexican tall than the Jamaican tall. The DR never had LY like Florida and Jamaica did though, so the Criollo tall population is very healthy.

Just for good measure, here is my biggest Beccariophoenix alfredii. I sprouted this from seed in mid-2010:

That's my collection!

[Cluster 459]

Zeeth amazing collection, that Tahiti red dwarf has an amazing color. I did not know there were Hawaii orange and Panama Tall! Regarding the last picture (post #225) how do you distinguish Panama Tall coconuts from Malayan ones, besides the size they are both round right?

The burned Jamaican Tall will hopefully recover I would not be too worried about it.

Do you also have a Fiji Dwarf? The ones in good health look amazing with stiff and wide leaves, they also seem to have more leaves?

Edited July 13, 2015 by Cluster

[palmsOrl 1,620]

Keith, your collection is coming along amazingly! Thank you for the update. I am pleased to see you finally obtained a Nawasi Tall. I will be adding that to my list for my next visit. I just fertilized all of my Cocos as I am just so eager for them to get some size to them. I have two Kopsick seedlings, and intend to go back for more in the next couple months. My Hawaiian Tall, though smaller than yours, looks the same as your green variety, very robust. That Beccariophoenix fooled me at first glance, the most noticeable difference versus Cocos is the petioles. I will post some photos of my collection's progress tomorrow when I can get some daylight photos. My Kopsick Cocos seedling that was in the ground for last winter proved pretty sensistive to 30-31F, even with a garbage can covering it. They are growing out of it nicely, even the one the previous neighbor yanked out and set to the side for a week bare root with lows in the 40s. Keeping the soil hot with a space heater aimed at the pot for 3 months revived it.

[Zeeth 2,289]

Zeeth amazing collection, that Tahiti red dwarf has an amazing color. I did not know there were Hawaii orange and Panama Tall! Regarding the last picture (post #225) how do you distinguish Panama Tall coconuts from Malayan ones, besides the size they are both round right?

The burned Jamaican Tall will hopefully recover I would not be too worried about it.

Do you also have a Fiji Dwarf? The ones in good health look amazing with stiff and wide leaves, they also seem to have more leaves?

Thanks! Panama tall coconuts are spherical, whereas the Malayans are a little more elongated (though not as much as a Jamaican tall). It's kind of hard to describe, but once you see them enough times it makes sense.

I do have a Fiji Dwarf actually! The uploader skipped it for some reason, but here it is!

[Zeeth 2,289]

Keith, your collection is coming along amazingly! Thank you for the update. I am pleased to see you finally obtained a Nawasi Tall. I will be adding that to my list for my next visit. I just fertilized all of my Cocos as I am just so eager for them to get some size to them. I have two Kopsick seedlings, and intend to go back for more in the next couple months. My Hawaiian Tall, though smaller than yours, looks the same as your green variety, very robust. That Beccariophoenix fooled me at first glance, the most noticeable difference versus Cocos is the petioles. I will post some photos of my collection's progress tomorrow when I can get some daylight photos. My Kopsick Cocos seedling that was in the ground for last winter proved pretty sensistive to 30-31F, even with a garbage can covering it. They are growing out of it nicely, even the one the previous neighbor yanked out and set to the side for a week bare root with lows in the 40s. Keeping the soil hot with a space heater aimed at the pot for 3 months revived it.

Thanks! I look forward to the updates on your coconuts. Hopefully your coconuts will be a little hardier once they're a little bigger. I actually sprouted another Jamaican tall from Kopsick two years ago, but it died that winter when the temps got to 32 F. The more mature tree a few feet away was undamaged though, so I think it was the small size that was the problem.

[Cluster 459]

Keith, your collection is coming along amazingly! Thank you for the update. I am pleased to see you finally obtained a Nawasi Tall. I will be adding that to my list for my next visit. I just fertilized all of my Cocos as I am just so eager for them to get some size to them. I have two Kopsick seedlings, and intend to go back for more in the next couple months. My Hawaiian Tall, though smaller than yours, looks the same as your green variety, very robust. That Beccariophoenix fooled me at first glance, the most noticeable difference versus Cocos is the petioles. I will post some photos of my collection's progress tomorrow when I can get some daylight photos. My Kopsick Cocos seedling that was in the ground for last winter proved pretty sensistive to 30-31F, even with a garbage can covering it. They are growing out of it nicely, even the one the previous neighbor yanked out and set to the side for a week bare root with lows in the 40s. Keeping the soil hot with a space heater aimed at the pot for 3 months revived it.

Hello William, sometimes it is hard to distinguish both species. In some pictures I have seen the trunk seems to be a bit different and the coconuts have a more spherical crown later on and of course the fruits. How do you distinguish the petioles? I guess it would be easier if I could see one Beccariophoenix in real life for compassion:)

[IHB1979 235]

A couple more.

The second photo, the owners over trim every year, it's always trying to outgrow the feather duster appearance.

[Cluster 459]

I fear for that car:P

[Coconutman 13]

ouch...

[Rhizophora 6]

Pulau Maratua, Kalimantan. Some of the tallest coconuts I've ever seen! I think they might have been the wild type.

/

[palmsOrl 1,620]

Okay, here is my (so far) humble collection of Cocos growing in the ground in the Orlando area. It is not as impressive as Keith's collection, but I am really hoping these can put on some serious size in the next couple years.

The first is currently my largest, a green Malayan that I have had for 14 years. Until the past year, I had kept it in a larger bonsai pot and applied bonsai techniques to it for many years. Last year, since we moved into a house, I decided it was too big and needed to go in the ground. Here it is between the house and the greenhouse. It looks much more healthy and robust in-person.

[palmsOrl 1,620]

A

A Panama Tall which sprouted about a month after I collected it at Fairchild's in September 2013. I had already planted it in the ground at my parent's former house and it was taking off. The transplant has set it back some, but I think it is ready for some major growth now. I have stepped up fertilization of all my Cocos recently, to maximize progress while ideal growing conditions exist.

[palmsOrl 1,620]

Next up, this seedling came from a large torpedo shaped coconut I found under a large palm right next to the beach in South Beach. It could be a Maypan perhaps? I planted it in a shadier spot, but the growth rate appears to be comparable to my other Cocos.

[palmsOrl 1,620]

Jamaican Tall from Kopsick Arboretum. The healthier, larger of the two that I have. It has really picked up speed recently despite some extensive cosmetic cold damage from this past winter.

[palmsOrl 1,620]

I spotted this very small round coconut which had just fallen onto the sidewalk along one of the streets in South Beach. The parent palm is fairly tall and very skinny, with a modest but healthy sized crown. Looked like a very pure green Malayan variety to me. I should have taken a picture of the palm for reference. Here is the little runt that has resulted. I have high hopes for it though