Would it be possible to grow a coconut palm on Boca chica beach in Texas?

[hebuttt]

Please forgive my roominess....but I'm wondering if I could plant some coconut palms on Boca chica beach in Texas...I would plant them and then visit them once a month..sounds silly, right???

[Xenon]

Yes yes please do. I've actually had the same idea myself. They probably need supplemental water though. I know of some coconuts growing in the Port Isabel/South Padre on what seem to be abandoned lots...sure they would appreciate some irrigation. Boca Chica is probably the warmest place in Texas - ship channel to the the north, deepest part of the Laguna Madre to the west, and the Gulf to the east. Would be cool to see coconut palms on the banks of the Rio Grande too. 

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Might get in trouble if you are caught planting in the state park.  So use good judgment.

[Zeeth]

According to John Purcell, they wash up on shore in that area fairly frequently, and often sprout. He says that people collect them pretty often, which may be why they're not currently present there. That also means that you may have issues with people messing with one if you plant it. 

[RedRabbit]

I wouldn't mind if someone did this at Ft. Desoto... Such a nice climate not being used to it's full potential. :/

[Zeeth]

21 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

I wouldn't mind if someone did this at Ft. Desoto... Such a nice climate not being used to it's full potential. :/

All of those tiny islands out in the Tampa Bay and south would probably sustain a coconut pretty well. If only I had a boat...

[hebuttt]

12 hours ago, Xenon said:

Yes yes please do. I've actually had the same idea myself. They probably need supplemental water though. I know of some coconuts growing in the Port Isabel/South Padre on what seem to be abandoned lots...sure they would appreciate some irrigation. Boca Chica is probably the warmest place in Texas - ship channel to the the north, deepest part of the Laguna Madre to the west, and the Gulf to the east. Would be cool to see coconut palms on the banks of the Rio Grande too. 

I didn't think about the getting in trouble part. Thanks for all the responses. You sound like you know a lot about them.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

19 minutes ago, hebuttt said:

I didn't think about the getting in trouble part. Thanks for all the responses. You sound like you know a lot about them.

I say do it.  Your biggest hurdle is likely to be just humans.   

I too would also love to see them at Fort Desoto in south Saint Pete.  Every time I have been I've wondered why there were not more species of pals there, especially indigenous palms.  

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016‎ ‎1‎:‎57‎:‎06‎, hebuttt said:

Please forgive my roominess....but I'm wondering if I could plant some coconut palms on Boca chica beach in Texas...I would plant them and then visit them once a month..sounds silly, right???

Henry,

They would probably grow quite well there considering that is the warmest part of Texas with a solid 10B Climate about 90% of the time.  Don't worry about the "State Park" there.  I don't think there is one there anymore.  There used to just be a day use area of the Parks & Wildlife Dept., but there are no signs of any facilities there or any park rangers.  The two main factors you would have to deal with are:  1. watering, since that area is now a semi arid climate with only about 26" or 27" of rainfall per year (though, I think about 150 years ago before 98% of the subtropical palm forest along the Rio Grande was clear cut for agriculture, the rainfall was probably higher), and 2.  Like was said above, you would have to worry about someone digging up and taking the coconut palms you would plant.  Other than that, I think they would do well there, especially close to the delta in the richer delta/sandy soil.  There is a distinct layer of clay there just under the sand in some areas and along the bank of the river where it empties into the Gulf, and the clay would help with moisture retention.  Close to the mouth of the river, a coconut palm probably would be able to tap into a freshwater layer in the groundwater once its roots are long enough, and the brackish water at the delta itself may be fresh enough for a coconut palm to make it along with natural rainfall. 

By the way, there are some nice 10ft. to about 13ft. tall Red Mangroves there on the Texas side of the delta, along with many really large Black Mangroves, and just across the river on the Mexican side of the river just around the first bend of the river back from the beach, there is a BIG Red Mangrove that appears to be about 25ft. tall and about 50ft. wide, or a cluster of large ones growing really close together that makes it look like it is one really large one when viewed from the Texas side.  So if the Red Mangroves can get that big there and not only survive the winters, but even seed, then I think a coconut palm would have no problem there temperature wise most winters and probably even produce mature coconuts if it got enough water.  There are some really nice Mexican Tall coconut palms that I have seen photos of online in Matamoros just upriver on the Mexican side that appear to be about 45ft. to 50ft. tall with fairly large nuts on them.  I just recently picked up a huge coconut off the beach south of Bob Hall Pier on North Padre Island that was about 3/4 buried in the sand near the waters edge that has no barnacles or algae on the husk, so it must have come from one of those palms growing near the river in Matamoros and floated up on the beach here just a few days later.  The other nuts that have been out in the Gulf for a few weeks to a few months, have algae and barnacles growing on them (but they are still viable if they have water/milk in them).  I figure the nuts that have algae and/or barnacles on them are from the areas around Vera Cruz, the beach along the Bay of Campeche, or the Yucatan, but the ones that have clean husks are probably from palms growing along the river in either Brownsville or Matamoros, or from coastal areas just south of there, and wash up here on the beach just a few days to a week after falling into the water.  My first sprout that I got this year from a beach coconut was one that has virtually no algae or barnacles on it, and is a medium sized nut.  I figure it dropped off a palm along the river in the vicinity of Brownsville or Matamoros.

John

Edited September 26, 2016 by Mr. Coconut Palm

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016‎ ‎8‎:‎11‎:‎32‎, RedRabbit said:

I wouldn't mind if someone did this at Ft. Desoto... Such a nice climate not being used to it's full potential. :/

Coconuts should do great at Ft. Desoto.  Jamaican Talls could probably easily reach 55ft. to 60ft. tall there in overall height, and Malayans could probably easily get to about 35ft. to 40ft. there.

[RedRabbit]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Coconuts should do great at Ft. Desoto.  Jamaican Talls could probably easily reach 55ft. to 60ft. tall there in overall height, and Malayans could probably easily get to about 35ft. to 40ft. there.

Yep, I would think so. Coconuts further north in St. Pete and St. Pete Beach have been fine since 1990. Who knows, maybe they would have survived the 80s in Fort DeSoto. 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

8 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Yep, I would think so. Coconuts further north in St. Pete and St. Pete Beach have been fine since 1990. Who knows, maybe they would have survived the 80s in Fort DeSoto. 

I think Jamaican Talls probably would have survived the '89 freeze at Ft. Desoto.