New coconut palms planted, Brownsville, Texas

[lahuasteca]

After a rough winter (min. temp. 30 F.), going to give it a try with three Dwarf Malayans, two greens, and one gold.  Here in extreme South Texas we warmed pretty fast, have been in the 80's since early February.  The greens are from Jene's Tropicals in St. Petersburg, FL - FL Dept. Ag certified - it's ultimate origin is Puerto Rico.  The gold is from a fruit stand in Ft. Lauderdale which I sprouted summer, 2017.  I'll keep you all updated and let's hope for the best next winter.  FWIW, Brownsville is 25.8 N. lat.

[PalmTreeDude]

Good luck, I hope they do well!

[Austinpalm]

Good looking palms.  Were these replacements for other cooconut palms that died, or just palms you recently planted? I have not been able to look at coconuts on the mainland (Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen) but those on the island (Padre) did not seem to have too much damage when I saw them about a month ago.  How have the coconut palms in the Valley you know of fared this winter?

 

 

[awkonradi]

Looks great!  Thanks for sharing.

[lahuasteca]

12 hours ago, Austinpalm said:

Good looking palms.  Were these replacements for other cooconut palms that died, or just palms you recently planted? I have not been able to look at coconuts on the mainland (Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen) but those on the island (Padre) did not seem to have too much damage when I saw them about a month ago.  How have the coconut palms in the Valley you know of fared this winter?

No, not replacements.  Summer, 2017, after a series of warm winters, I thought I'd give the coconut palms a try.  Fortunately, I decided not to plant them then, but wait for the 2017-2018 winter to pass.  The Mexican Talls in Brownsville are a little brown; I saw two, what I think are Dwarf Malayans, on highway 802, they're pretty toasted.  Most of the Royals in Brownsville have browning on the lower leaves, but have new green emerging.  McAllen did not get the ice, so the royals there show only a little browning on the lower leaves.  Harlingen got down to 28 F so I imagine the royals and whatever coconut palms exist there, did not fare as well.  PI and SPI were relatively unaffected.  Here's a large post-cold wave Mexican Tall from PI - picture was taken 2/28/18.

 

 

[Austinpalm]

Nice pix.  I've seen that palm.  It is behind Joe's Oyster bar; right?

[lahuasteca]

20 minutes ago, Austinpalm said:

Nice pix.  I've seen that palm.  It is behind Joe's Oyster bar; right?

Correct.  It is right behind Joe's Oyster Bar.

[Lior_Gal]

Dear Paul, 

Best of luck with your new Coco Palms, But if you want them to have a better survival chance, The "Nut" Must be planted only half under ground and the other half (Upper Part)

or at least third of it above the soil fully exposed to the sun, Just like nature dose, you placed all the nut undergaound which is not good at all, It may not survive and rot slowly,

I recommend you to Re-Plant all of your Coco Sprouts again, Trust me it will pay off. 

 

 

 

[lahuasteca]

Hi Lior,

I was aware of the idea do plant with the recommendation to plant 1/3/ to 1/2 of the husk exposed.  But we have a problem soil here in the delta of the Rio Grande - heavy clay vertisol or shrink-swell soils.  Every palm I've ever planted - Royal, queen, King, Majesty, etc. has self-lifted over time and exposed the roots.  I've covered the husks with about 3" of organic compost (cow manure and leaf litter) which will rapidly decay in the blazing sun and very humid conditions we have here.  My main concern are the occasional winter Arctic fronts which we sometimes arrive here in South Texas, albeit only 150 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer - thus, I'm trying to keep those roots from being exposed next winter.

I've got a question for you.  Eliat, at the southern tip of Israel, bordering the Gulf of Aqaba, lat. 29 N., should be frost free and quite hot.  Do coconuts grow there without any special protections?

Thanks,

Gene

 

[Lior_Gal]

Hey Gene, 

Well, I hope that your new Coco Palms will be okay with local climate in your area, Best of luck, Keep us updated.

P.S.

In the southern City of Eilat, As far as I know, There is only one Coconut Palm, that was planted as a sprout in the dolphin reef Beach, In a very close Proximity to 

the water of the Red Sea, There is no Frosts over there, even during winter time, Therefore Coconuts can survive there, The only problem is the Low Humidity in 

that area, But it's not a problem for the Coconut in the Dolphin Reef, Since it has a great micro climate, It has been brought there from Thailand as the story tells,

About 20 years ago, And it was planted on the reef, The only problem is that no one is taking care of it, It's Surviving but it's not looking too good, I guess its due to

lack of watering, Soil Acidity levels, Lack of Iron and other Microelements, on my next trip to Eilat I'm gonna bring a few things with me, Such as BioFish Fertilizer

with Low pH, as well as Hummus, Iron Powder and  a few more things that I am willing to donate if someone will listen to my advice and take care of this Palm

Place an irrigation line that will make sure it will get enough water, I'm sure that with the proper care there is a good chance for it to produce fruits. 

There are 2 photos:

The 3 years old Hawaiian tall coconut that I grow at my friends house 20 minutes away (North)  from Tel Aviv (4 Meters High) He Survived the winter outside, Unprotected.

The 20 years old Coconut in the Dolphin Reef, Eilat, Also, Growing Unprotected, Totally Exposed to the Elements. 

 

 

[LF-TX]

Wow Gene, your palms look great!  I’m glad to see that they’re doing well. And yes, the palms in Brownsville and even here in Los Fresnos have been hit really bad. I haven’t been to Brownsville or the Island lately, but I’ve seen that the Mexican Talls here in Los Fresnos have already started growing new green spears and other other varieties as well, although not as quickly as the Mexican Talls. This was a really bad winter but thankfully it looks like the cocos are going to pull through. Best wishes for your palms. 

[LF-TX]

On 3/3/2018, 5:13:59, lahuasteca said:

After a rough winter (min. temp. 30 F.), going to give it a try with three Dwarf Malayans, two greens, and one gold.  Here in extreme South Texas we warmed pretty fast, have been in the 80's since early February.  The greens are from Jene's Tropicals in St. Petersburg, FL - FL Dept. Ag certified - it's ultimate origin is Puerto Rico.  The gold is from a fruit stand in Ft. Lauderdale which I sprouted summer, 2017.  I'll keep you all updated and let's hope for the best next winter.  FWIW, Brownsville is 25.8 N. lat.

I wonder how these palms have been faring @Iahuasteca 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 3/3/2018, 5:13:59, lahuasteca said:

After a rough winter (min. temp. 30 F.), going to give it a try with three Dwarf Malayans, two greens, and one gold.  Here in extreme South Texas we warmed pretty fast, have been in the 80's since early February.  The greens are from Jene's Tropicals in St. Petersburg, FL - FL Dept. Ag certified - it's ultimate origin is Puerto Rico.  The gold is from a fruit stand in Ft. Lauderdale which I sprouted summer, 2017.  I'll keep you all updated and let's hope for the best next winter.  FWIW, Brownsville is 25.8 N. lat.

Nice and best of luck. What is Brownsville's zone? I thought I read there have been larger specimens growing there over the years.

[LF-TX]

10 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Nice and best of luck. What is Brownsville's zone? I thought I read there have been larger specimens growing there over the years.

Brownsville is Zone 10a. And yes, there are larger coconut palms in the city and even in other parts of the RGV.  Sadly Matamoros across the border is the place having the most fun, there’s more larger specimens over there. 

[Arturo Boston]

Doing anything to protect these from the coming freezes?

[lahuasteca]

42 minutes ago, Arturo Boston said:

Doing anything to protect these from the coming freezes?

Actually no.  I haven't posted for awhile.  My palms are too big - trunk/leave combo over 15 ft high.  There is a lot of organic mulch around the four palms.  Right now (Fri. 2/12/2021 9 PM) 40 F drizzle and windy.  If it stays like this - I expect leaf but no root damage.  Seen some models predicting - mid-20's - not too much I can do for that.  My hope is that this air mass is moving so slow it will have time to modify and stay in low thirties.  Time will tell - I'll post again Tuesday AM.  I have never seen a cold air mass this far south so late in the season in 50 yrs.

[palmnut-fry]

Might want to yank these back up with coming Siberian Xpress! Luckily, easy to do...wait till sure no more huge cold fronts! 

I don't trust Texas weather! Yikes next week to be a bitchhhhh

[Sunny Palms]

Wanting to get started with Coconut Palms in Brownsville.

How are your Coconut Palms doing after a few years now -- any chance of some updated pictures for inspiration?

Edited October 27, 2023 by Sunny Palms

[Zeeth]

😬

[Xenon]

11 hours ago, Sunny Palms said:

Wanting to get started with Coconut Palms in Brownsville.

How are your Coconut Palms doing after a few years now -- any chance of some updated pictures for inspiration?

Oh they're all dead from that freeze in 2021. The oldest ones would've been planted in the 90s.  So they can last for a while. Coconuts have been grown here for a long time, there's an article about planting a lot of coconuts that went on to fruit (first time in "Texas") in Port Isabel in the 1930s. Gotta enjoy them for however long you can. 

*There is one unicorn coconut in south Weslaco against a house that managed to survive. It is recovering well with normal growth.  There is another trunking coconut in McAllen that was protected by the owner. 

Anyways, you should definitely plant some coconuts so we can live our Texas coconut dreams vicariously through you! Here is some inspiration through the years, all pics from within the McAllen-Brownsville-South Padre area. Almost all of these were planted as seeds/saplings so no "cheating" with imported larger palms. 

Look at that trunk!! One of the tallest for sure, notice the roof line and car underneath. West Brownsville 

Taken after a freeze, but look at the height on this one in Brownsville. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Xenon

[Zeeth]

Any pics of the South Weslaco coconut? 

[Sunny Palms]

Ooh, very sorry to hear about the freeze in 2021. I remember that on the news for sure, but was in Florida then and didn't pay enough attention, didn't realize it hit even the RGV area.  All dead sounds heartbreaking to me

How did they protect the one in McAllen successfully?

I might have to mix in some cold-tolerant palms to hedge my bets... 
 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Sunny Palms

[Xenon]

On 10/28/2023 at 9:07 AM, Zeeth said:

Any pics of the South Weslaco coconut? 

@richtrav has pics from last week he can share, it's looking much better.

Here it is in July 2022:

2011, just starting to trunk and narrowly surviving Feb 2011, the coldest winter since '89 at the time

2008, sapling

 

 

 

[Zeeth]

Wow, that's super impressive! 

[richtrav]

These were taken a few weeks ago

[richtrav]

Some better pics