Scottsdale Coconut

[palmsOrl 1,581]

1 hour ago, Walt said:

I've been growing my green Malayan dwarf now for 16 years. Planted it as a 7 gallon size. It's been a slow grower. I've posted (numerous times) various photos of my coconut palm  shown with freeze protection. I would have lost this palm a decade or more ago had I not protected it on some extra cold winter nights. While I'm in USDA zone 9b (last five winters zone 10, even zone 10b last winter), some winters my lows dropped into the low 20s F.  In December of 2010 I recorded my all-time low of 20.8 degrees in the vicinity of my coconut palm, and just over 19 degrees in other parts of my property. I had to use thermostatically controlled heating cables and heavy wraps around the palm's trunk and meristem. The fronds got fried, but the trunk and meristem were untouched. I had a remote sensor inside the wraps and it never dropped below 55 degrees.

I took the below photo three days ago (10-26-19). I didn't get any coconuts this year, but have for the five previous years. My palm now has lots of developing coconuts that won't be ripe until next year.

With respect to your coconut palm, I feel you need to seal up your makeshift greenhouse to prevent cold air infiltration. If you could cinch the fronds closer together so that you could encircle the palm with your tarps (with a tarp overhanging the top) you probably wouldn't need too much heat to keep the greenhouse at say 40 degrees F. And again, if you can insulate the tarps with old flannel sheets, blankets, etc., the will substantially cut down on heat transfer out of the greenhouse.

Over the last 20 years there's not many techniques I haven't tried protecting palms and tropical plants,  etc. Those days are basically over for me now. About all I will try to protect is my coconut palm. Palms I used to protect are now too tall.

 

Your coconut looks beautiful Walt.  Best it's ever looked, it's really a showpiece now.  Your garden in general is looking really lush and healthy.

[wrigjef 243]

Sandgroper,

   I like that idea about the roofing insulation. It would work for two of the sides for sure 

 

Walt,

  I have seen and read all of your updates throughout the years. I just did not realize it was you. Your Coco is absolutely beautiful and is not growing very slow in my opinion. I remember your posts from a few years back and it was much smaller.  
 Growing a coco in Phoenix is much different than anywhere in Florida.  Our only advantage as I see it is we’re very dry so over watering or root rot is not a problem.  

Our low temps in winter are almost always upper 30’s to low 40’s every night.  Central Florida is much warmer on average each night however I think there is a greater chance of extreme cold like the 20 degrees you mentioned.  In 20 years of living in Phoenix I have recorded a record low of 28 degrees twice both in the same week which happened this last winter.  Most winters just touch 32 degrees maybe once or twice.  

As for the greenhouse, I think it’s in good shape for the foreseeable future. I thought it would have outgrown anything I could build being in the ground for over 3 years and another 4 in a pot.  So for a 7 year old palm it’s a runt for sure but my mistake overheating it did not help.

Keep me posted on your Palm Walt, winters are always a challenge in a 9B climate growing tropicals like our locations.  

[Walt 1,228]

22 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Whoever wants sound advice about zone pushing Cocos nucifera, @Walt is your man. Especially in a humid 9b. 

 

 

You got it, Alex. When my coconut saw 20.8 degrees back in December of 2010,  plus a total of six nights below 30 degrees,  three of those nights below 25 degrees -- I kept my coconut palm from being killed. If it weren't for the heating cables and heavy insulation around the trunk and meristem -- my coconut palm would only be a fond memory right now!

[Walt 1,228]

21 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Your coconut looks beautiful Walt.  Best it's ever looked, it's really a showpiece now.  Your garden in general is looking really lush and healthy.

Thanks. With some recent rains my place still looks relatively good (green). I plan to do my annual property update any day now, where I walk around my property with video camera, then edit everything and upload it to YouTube. I missed last year because my property was still recovering from Hurricane Irma.

[Walt 1,228]

21 hours ago, wrigjef said:

Sandgroper,

   I like that idea about the roofing insulation. It would work for two of the sides for sure 

 

Walt,

  I have seen and read all of your updates throughout the years. I just did not realize it was you. Your Coco is absolutely beautiful and is not growing very slow in my opinion. I remember your posts from a few years back and it was much smaller.  
 Growing a coco in Phoenix is much different than anywhere in Florida.  Our only advantage as I see it is we’re very dry so over watering or root rot is not a problem.  

Our low temps in winter are almost always upper 30’s to low 40’s every night.  Central Florida is much warmer on average each night however I think there is a greater chance of extreme cold like the 20 degrees you mentioned.  In 20 years of living in Phoenix I have recorded a record low of 28 degrees twice both in the same week which happened this last winter.  Most winters just touch 32 degrees maybe once or twice.  

As for the greenhouse, I think it’s in good shape for the foreseeable future. I thought it would have outgrown anything I could build being in the ground for over 3 years and another 4 in a pot.  So for a 7 year old palm it’s a runt for sure but my mistake overheating it did not help.

Keep me posted on your Palm Walt, winters are always a challenge in a 9B climate growing tropicals like our locations.  

Yes, I think I posted (some months ago) pics showing how my coconut palm has grown over the years, plus pics showing how I protect it.

You are correct about my winter weather. Average temperature (night and day during the core winter months are higher here on average). However, you are also correct about how I can get some really low temperatures, if only for one or two nights every so many years. That one or two nights can wipe out many years of growing. Because I'm not near a large body of water or on higher ground, it's the radiational freezes that are the worst, not advective. In the 21 years I've been keeping records, all but one sub 30 degree freeze has been radiational.

[ando.wsu 58]

Thought I’d share my coconut growing here in Scottsdale Arizona.  Opened up a couple of new fronds this winter.  Left outside on the balcony for the majority of the nights, brought inside a couple dozen times this winter to baby it a bit.  

[ando.wsu 58]

Another month and another opened frond.  Coconuts seems to do very well in containers here in Phoenix.  Probably gonna out grow the balcony this summer. Sorry the pic is side ways.  

[wrigjef 243]

57 minutes ago, ando.wsu said:

Another month and another opened frond.  Coconuts seems to do very well in containers here in Phoenix.  Probably gonna out grow the balcony this summer. Sorry the pic is side ways.  

Looks great, did you leave it outside all winter?   Mine did decent through winter but still growing really slowly.  I am getting a high pressure mist system installed next week and it will definitely help add humidity around my Palm. The only time it seems to put on any fast growth is during the monsoon.    

[ando.wsu 58]

@wrigjef brought in a couple of dozen times during the winter.  Forgot to bring it in on some cold nights too.  She grew all winter long putting up two new fronds that are a bit stretched compared to the newest edition now that there is more sun.  Either way, she seems happy in the short run.  

[GottmitAlex 2,945]

6 hours ago, wrigjef said:

Looks great, did you leave it outside all winter?   Mine did decent through winter but still growing really slowly.  I am getting a high pressure mist system installed next week and it will definitely help add humidity around my Palm. The only time it seems to put on any fast growth is during the monsoon.    

I've thought about a misting system for mine. However, based on my experience,  humidity for coconuts is not a "sine qua non" factor. Heat and sunlight are.

And yes, every time I water them I shower their leaves.

 

[wrigjef 243]

37 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

I've thought about a misting system for mine. However, based on my experience,  humidity for coconuts is not a "sine qua non" factor. Heat and sunlight are.

And yes, every time I water them I shower their leaves.

 

Looking good Alex!  I think a mister will help here in Phoenix for sure!   

[GottmitAlex 2,945]

9 minutes ago, wrigjef said:

Looking good Alex!  I think a mister will help here in Phoenix for sure!   

Thanks Jeff!  Hey, do the humidity levels raise at night in Phoenix?

[wrigjef 243]

1 minute ago, GottmitAlex said:

Thanks Jeff!  Hey, do the humidity levels raise at night in Phoenix?

Phx in general is about 8-12 percent humidity during the heat of the day and go up a bit at night around 20 percent. (Non monsoon time)   
My yard is a jungle compared to the rest of the valley so my humidity never drop below 16 percent. (I know not a big difference) but goes up at night to 35 percent. 
The Mister system I am getting installed will be a game changer.  I have mature Bananas that fried last year with days on end above 115. I have a Dypsis Lutescens in the ground that will thrive with humidity.  My Coconut Palm won’t know where it’s at anymore LOL. 

[GottmitAlex 2,945]

3 minutes ago, wrigjef said:

Phx in general is about 8-12 percent humidity during the heat of the day and go up a bit at night around 20 percent. (Non monsoon time)   
My yard is a jungle compared to the rest of the valley so my humidity never drop below 16 percent. (I know not a big difference) but goes up at night to 35 percent. 
The Mister system I am getting installed will be a game changer.  I have mature Bananas that fried last year with days on end above 115. I have a Dypsis Lutescens in the ground that will thrive with humidity.  My Coconut Palm won’t know where it’s at anymore LOL. 

Nice! 

[GottmitAlex 2,945]

@wrigjef

Jeff, any updated pics of your palm?

Last we've got was Oct '19

Thanks!

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by GottmitAlex

[wrigjef 243]

24 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

@wrigjef

Jeff, any updated pics of your palm?

Last we've got was Oct '19

Thanks!

 

A winter ago I almost killed it with a space heater too close to the trunk.  Lost all but one frond and it took an entire year to grow the green frond on the left. It put out one new frond all of last year because of my stupidity.  Hope this year is different.   

[GottmitAlex 2,945]

23 minutes ago, wrigjef said:

A winter ago I almost killed it with a space heater too close to the trunk.  Lost all but one frond and it took an entire year to grow the green frond on the left. It put out one new frond all of last year because of my stupidity.  Hope this year is different.   

It's recovering nicely Jeff!

 

[Mr. Coconut Palm 1,174]

8 hours ago, wrigjef said:

A winter ago I almost killed it with a space heater too close to the trunk.  Lost all but one frond and it took an entire year to grow the green frond on the left. It put out one new frond all of last year because of my stupidity.  Hope this year is different.   

Jeff,

Pour the water to it in the hot dry months and you should get some good growth quickly.

John

[ando.wsu 58]

My patio coco is growing great this summer.  

[ando.wsu 58]

How are all the AZ coconuts fairing? Mine got heated this summer.  Getting top heavy and tipped over multiple times.   Crispy fronds.  But still alive.  Maybe tired looking.  Lower fronds browned up and have been removed.  
 

 

[wrigjef 243]

On 10/3/2020 at 7:16 AM, ando.wsu said:

How are all the AZ coconuts fairing? Mine got heated this summer.  Getting top heavy and tipped over multiple times.   Crispy fronds.  But still alive.  Maybe tired looking.  Lower fronds browned up and have been removed.  
 

 

Mine looks terrible, the 55+ days above 110 just tore it up. Only thing left is the meristem and it looks bad also.  I thought it would be the cold that would kill it but it appears the heat won. 

[ando.wsu 58]

Broke down to baby her one last winter.  She gettin thicc 

[wrigjef 243]

Beautiful! 

[ando.wsu 58]

Figured out why this coco was looking sad.  Damn spider mites sucking the chlorophyll from the fronds 

shower number 1 is complete. 

[Frond-friend42 216]

I tried to germinate a couple of cocos from Walmart. They had fluid inside and I soaked the underwater in a big pot under a slab for maybe 5 days. 80-90 F. Then put them in a warm spot in baggies with water in a pot to keep them from light. They started puking out pink and red slime getting all grody. I wonder if I did something wrong or its just bad luck and aging of the cocos.

[Aleitalyyy 10]

@wrigjefhello how's it going? have you always put a greenhouse on the palm tree?

[wrigjef 243]

On 1/2/2021 at 2:09 AM, Aleitalyyy said:

@wrigjefhello how's it going? have you always put a greenhouse on the palm tree?

Every winter for the past 3 winters yes but now it’s dead. I thought the cold would kill it but it was the heat. Nothing in the world does well in 60 plus days above 110 degrees.  It was the hottest summer on record in Phoenix.  It was sad to see it die but quite honesty it was a ton of work and was relieved I not have to mess with the greenhouse again.    

[ando.wsu 58]

Sorry to hear the coco died.  I agree, too much maintenance to keep alive.  Even in a container,  constant watering during the hot months and if you forget a day, could be death.  So far this winter I’ve kept mine mostly indoors going outside when the sun is out with the occasional nights leaving outside.  Still seems to be growing through the cooler temps and getting big. 

[Aleitalyyy 10]

@wrigjefvery sorry .. maybe that heater has doomed the life of your coconut ... try again with a fast growing green variety, now you know how to behave.

[Aleitalyyy 10]

@ando.wsuthat palm tree is just awesome ... mine is still small and I keep it at home here in Italy in winter ... I hope it becomes as big as yours .. congratulations!