Cocos nucifera Hawaiian Tall Indoors

[palmsOrl]

I had been a regular poster on this forum until midway through 2016 when I had to move to SE Pennsylania due to some unfortunate life circumstances.  I had to just give up every palm in my collection.  That in itself was tough.  

Since I have been here, I have overwintered a couple palms inside, including Rhaphidophyllum hystrix, which has done really well.  I protected it more than it needed since it on the small side and in a pot.  I also kept a Dypsis lutescens and Chamadorea cateractum, both of which got heavy spider mite infestations while inside.  Only the cat palm survives, but I have no idea whether it will survive another winter inside, as I continued to battle spider mites this summer.

Last month, on a whim, I bought a sprouted Hawaiian tall coconut and have decided since it is small I can perhaps keep it alive in an interior room with a bright artificial light and weekly insecticide treatments.  Should 70-72F be enough to keep it alive?

 

[palmsOrl]

Luckily it is going to be warm enough to keep this palm outside for a while, before I have to bring it in for 6 months.

I gave it some nutricote, even though Cocos seedlings are supposed to get nutrients from the nut for a while.

[Rickybobby]

I’ve had zero issues keeping mine in at those temps. Mine gets an led grow light and my room ranges from 50 to 65rh. It won’t grow as fast but has been just fine. And really I’m no rush to have it outgrow my house. I spray an anti transpirant on it twice a year to help when it gets drier 

so far so good and I’m in Ontario 

[Zeeth]

Good luck with it! What ended up happening with all the coconuts you had in the ground?

[GottmitAlex]

The king or emperor of palms. Best of luck!

[palmsOrl]

I lost them all Keith.  Had to move, lost the house and moved up to PA to be near my parents.  Could not bring anything with, except a few starter bonsai I had.  Really depresses me to think about all I lost.  I like the cooler weather here but I miss Florida and all my palms.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

William,

Sorry to hear that.  I hope in the near future, you will be able to return to a Coconut Palm favorable area and prosper with even more palms!

John

[palmsOrl]

I just bought this new Cocos, supposedly a Jamaican tall, from eBay.  The item description was as follows: 

The parent tree came from the island of Jamaica back in the 1930's. These sprouts are the "grand children" of that tree. These sprouts will mature into tall trees which will bear large coconuts. Note: coconuts cannot be shipped to California. The sprouts are shipped bare root with no dirt, ready for planting. Some sprouts may not show roots yet. 

The coconut itself is quite large, much larger than my Hawaiian tall, and the sprout very robust.  Petioles yellowish, orange, caramel in color.  

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by palmsOrl
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[GottmitAlex]

2 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

I just bought this new Cocos, supposedly a Jamaican tall, from eBay.  The item description was as follows: 

The parent tree came from the island of Jamaica back in the 1930's. These sprouts are the "grand children" of that tree. These sprouts will mature into tall trees which will bear large coconuts. Note: coconuts cannot be shipped to California. The sprouts are shipped bare root with no dirt, ready for planting. Some sprouts may not show roots yet. 

The coconut itself is quite large, much larger than my Hawaiian tall, and the sprout very robust.  Petioles yellowish, orange, caramel in color.  

 

Gorgeous sprout! Love that cultivar. Unlike the Panama/Pacific's, the Jamaican/Atlantic has a full crown. Best of luck growing it.

[Zeeth]

16 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

Gorgeous sprout! Love that cultivar. Unlike the Panama/Pacific's, the Jamaican/Atlantic has a full crown. Best of luck growing it.

Panama tall can have a full crown, but not always. They tend to be fuller by the end of summer and more umbrella shaped in spring.  Here are some with full crowns:

[Cluster]

That just makes it almost impossible to distinguish!  Here is a theory, maybe Panama need more nutrients (better soil) to keep as many fronds as the JT. The JT is probably less demanding when it comes to keep a full crown, likewise Dwarf cultivars are said to be more demanding of soil conditions etc. 

[GottmitAlex]

9 hours ago, Zeeth said:

Panama tall can have a full crown, but not always. They tend to be fuller by the end of summer and more umbrella shaped in spring.  Here are some with full crowns:

What beautiful pictures. However, as you conceded, it is the exception, not the rule. The Jamaican/Atlantic tall however, are fully crowned. Soil conditions: NaCL.  Yeah, they don't receive too much PalmGain... 

[palmsOrl]

Okay so the above Jamaican tall didn't make it in my bathroom palm grow room setup.  It just gradually declined.  Not sure why really.  The other coconut palm is doing pretty well.  

The good news is the same vendor had 2 left so I ordered them and had them shipped to Fl where my grandma is going to care for them for me for the time being.  These are also the Jamaican tall variety.

I just got them potted and put in a sheltered spot where they will get some sun.  I really hope for a warm rest of the winter as these are too heavy for my grandma to move so I will have to have my dad move them when it gets cold.

[palmsOrl]

Moved these inside to a south facing loft.  The house is kept at like 77F at all times so the temperature is far better than what they would get if kept outside.  The problem has been, with the heat blasting, the air is bone dry and  that in combination with the fact that they are potted in sand has meant keeping up on watering is almost impossible.  You can tell they lack water in the photos.

There has been enough chilly weather that I think these newly potted seedlings would likely have not made it if I hadn't brought them inside.  Today was in the low 50s with gusty winds and heavy rain and tonight the rain continues and temperatures are in the 40s.  Terrible weather for coconut palms.  Almost certainly fatal for newly potted seedlings.

[Zeeth]

Let me know once the Hawaiian tall gets too big to grow indoors. If you want to bring it down to Florida I can make arrangements to have it planted at Kopsick. 

[Merlyn]

I had a major spider mite infestation on my cat palm this fall, about 2 months after I bought it and brought it inside.  Wiping and misting didn't help much, and they munched about half the fronds.  I gave it a soil dose of coffee grounds and a small amount of acephate.  The mites came back, so I sprayed down the fronds with Abamectin/Avid around a month ago.  I haven't seen a mite since.

Keep us up on the progress of your coconuts!

[palmsOrl]

I just took the two Cocos outdoors and put them in a location where they will get several hours of full sun.  The taller one looks a little rough from drying out and spider mite issues inside, but I think both with survive.  

The weather forecast looks warm for the next week and after that the chances of frost and a freeze is low, though not exceeding rare until after early March.

[palmsOrl]

I was at Green’s Nursery near Apopka (NW of Orlando) today and they had about 20 of these what appear to be tall variety coconuts for $15.  The one I picked is about 7 feet tall and all the leaves are still fully bifid including the emerging one.  The coconut itself is significantly larger than on either of the sprouted nuts I have been posting about in this thread originally from Jamaica in the 1930s.

The nursery owner said he brought these up from Homestead and just called them “yellow coconuts”.  

He also has a bunch of yellow/golden and green dwarf in the fruit tree area for $10 that are 3-4 feet tall.

[GottmitAlex]

9 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

I was at Green’s Nursery near Apopka (NW of Orlando) today and they had about 20 of these what appear to be tall variety coconuts for $15.  The one I picked is about 7 feet tall and all the leaves are still fully bifid including the emerging one.  The coconut itself is significantly larger than on either of the sprouted nuts I have been posting about in this thread originally from Jamaica in the 1930s.

The nursery owner said he brought these up from Homestead and just called them “yellow coconuts”.  

He also has a bunch of yellow/golden and green dwarf in the fruit tree area for $10 that are 3-4 feet tall.

The color is beautiful. Just watch out for the stem's girth. From my limited experience I have found out the hard way that thin stems on coconuts aren't as healthy as the thicker ones. Even if the seedling is tall.

I wish you the best for yours. I'm rooting for it. Love the color!

 

[palmsOrl]

Here is another photo of it with a second palm I bought (new thread to come).

 

My other two Jamaican talls are growing slowly but doing well in full all-day sun on my grandma’s lake.  I will post a photo later this summer when there is a major growth spurt.

[Merlyn]

That's a pretty good deal, even if they are a little stretched.  I picked up two of them from a local big box store for $20 each, about 3 feet tall but with a similar trunk diameter.  They are growing slowly but steadily this spring, seemingly in spurts whenever the high temps are above 80 for at least a couple of days in a row.  I may need to go out to Greens this weekend to see if they still have some of those!  Thanks for posting the pictures!

[palmsOrl]

Merlyn, yes I agree, they have incredible deals.  Wholesale prices no doubt, because they are a wholesale nursery open to the public.

As these came from Homestead, I am not necessarily convinced they are stretched rather than just true 100% talls that may not go pinnate for a couple more feet.

I just had to have one.

They had about 20 of these in a separate area from all the other Cocos.  Call ahead to make sure they are open that day.

Edited April 26, 2019 by palmsOrl

[palmsOrl]

Here are all three of mine the other day, the new one having just been reported.  It was sunny all day, then a heavy cloud moved over the minute I got out to take a picture.

[palmsOrl]

Look at how tiny the coconuts are on these seedlings at the local Home Depot.  That must be pure Malayan dwarf.

[Merlyn]

On 4/26/2019 at 11:21 AM, palmsOrl said:

As these came from Homestead, I am not necessarily convinced they are stretched rather than just true 100% talls that may not go pinnate for a couple more feet.

I just figured out why mine from HD seemed so much smaller, despite the fairly large wrist-diameter base at the coconut.  Mine are, as you said, pure Malayan Dwarf!  In an earlier thread where I was looking for a smaller diameter pinnate palm, Zeeth said the ones at the big box stores were all Malayans.  I just made the bad assumption that he meant Malayan Tall.  Durrrrrr.  

I was out at Green's last weekend and they were out of the talls.  They still had 10-15 of the other dwarfs off to the SW of the main building.

[palmsOrl]

Sorry they were out of the talls.  I didn’t know they sold so quickly, but I guess they wouldn’t order them if they didn’t.  They had tons of yellow Malayan dwarfs when I was there.  Have most sold?

The one I bought is thriving in its much bigger pot and sandy soil.  I am so glad I got it.  The new leaf emerging is huge and still bifid.  I will post an updated photo soon.

[Merlyn]

They still had quite a few dwarfs, I think most had yellow rachis but I didn't look at them too closely.  There were a mix of green and yellow, I think.  I ended up getting a 1G Agave Ovatifolia, a couple of Zamia Furfuracea, several Hawaiian Ti triples, an aloe and a couple of bursting pots of heliconias.  I got enough stuff to fill in one flower bed that's been neglected for a while.  Cruz said that they'll probably get more coconuts soon.

[palmsOrl]

Here are all seven of my Cocos basking in the hot sun today.  The four I just got back are there too, two of which I re-re-potted today so they can have a full summer to get established root systems and grow as much as possible.  I will do the other two tomorrow.  The three I had that I have already posted about are talls and of 15+ I had at my old house, most were talls, so these four survivors I reclaimed are most likely tall variety as well.