Coconut palm substitute

[Merlyn]

I'm more familiar with Floriduh's high humidity, but there are a few other possibilities that are fairly fast growing and skinny trunks:

Dypsis Pembana is a clustering one, but not spiky like a Phoenix Reclinata and not a super-fast-clustering one.  It's also a pretty quick grower and very tropical-looking.  In FL full sun is fine.

Dictyosperma Album/Rubrum is a relatively fast grower with big drooping leaves, and looks pretty neat when young too.

Attalea Cohune and Arenga Pinnata are full sun in FL and grow giant tall fronds (20+ feet tall) for a loooong time before trunking.  Both are very slow growers though, but if you like the "fountain of fronds" look those might work.

 

[JubaeaMan138]

I am also growing attaleas and dypsis pembana here although dypsis pembana is not in full sun . All grow very well for me here in riverside attaleas love the full sun 

[mistyinca]

2 hours ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

I am right behind you misty mockingbird canyon !! Woodcrest 

I was looking at your avatar thinking you must be pretty close! Howdy neighbor!

[Stelios]

For me Ravenea rivularis is also a palm that can have some coconut look. It needs a lot of water to look the best but it should be easy to find in a good price. For a more mini version there is Ravenea glauca.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

I am also growing attaleas and dypsis pembana here although dypsis pembana is not in full sun . All grow very well for me here in riverside attaleas love the full sun 

What other clumping Dypsis have you tried their in Riverside with success?  Dypsis pembana tends to get beat up here in the winter cold, and is susceptible to burn even here on the coast when it gets hot and dry.  Dypsis onilahensis and heteromorpha are the best looking for me on the coast.  I know D heteromorpha also does well further inland with less humidity and more heat.  Either of those will provide much narrower trunks but a tropical look.  Ravenea glauca and Dypsis plumosa might also be options when it comes to solitary with narrow trunks.  You and Chris would be the ones to have tested all these species there in Riverside and Moreno Valley.

[JubaeaMan138]

As for clumping I have dypsis pembana , Cabadae, lutescens , onilahensis and heteromorpha. 

[palmad Merc]

Euterpe edulis Could be another to consider 

[palmsOrl]

Those are much prettier than any Cocos substitute in my humble opinion palmad Merc.

[Fusca]

3 hours ago, palmad Merc said:

Euterpe edulis Could be another to consider 

I agree but might be a bit more of a challenge in SoCal depending on location.  I like the thin-trunked Syagrus that @Eric in Orlando recently posted in another thread if you can find one.

 

[Sr. Califas]

13 hours ago, Tracy said:

What other clumping Dypsis have you tried their in Riverside with success?  Dypsis pembana tends to get beat up here in the winter cold, and is susceptible to burn even here on the coast when it gets hot and dry.  Dypsis onilahensis and heteromorpha are the best looking for me on the coast.  I know D heteromorpha also does well further inland with less humidity and more heat.  Either of those will provide much narrower trunks but a tropical look.  Ravenea glauca and Dypsis plumosa might also be options when it comes to solitary with narrow trunks.  You and Chris would be the ones to have tested all these species there in Riverside and Moreno Valley.

I agree that Dypsis plumosa and especially Ravenea glauca are good options. 

[AZPalms]

Although not as thin trunked, Majesty palms are cheap and do have a coco look. With plenty of water and food, they do well here in the desert. Syargus like syagrus botryophora have a nice look. syagrus amara look great too. Even Phoenix Rupicola looks tropical. 

 

Max 

 

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, palmad Merc said:

Euterpe edulis Could be another to consider 

Not a good choice when further inland due to very low humidity during summer heat.  I've seen them well grown in Vista and near me in Leucadia, but not much further inland.

 

10 hours ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

As for clumping I have dypsis pembana , Cabadae, lutescens , onilahensis and heteromorpha. 

So the question is which looks the best or performs the best in Riverside?  Are they full sun plants, part shade or heavy shade to do best there?

[JubaeaMan138]

Only plant that is in full sun is onilahensis . And it “looked” perfect until a rock rolled into it late last year. It finally is coming back from the damage and will look great by the end of summer . But it gets aloottt if water . Pembana is in partial shade when it does see sun it gets burned but it grows so fast it usually grows out of it pretty quick . The rest are in shade and the heteromorpha is in a pot 

[JubaeaMan138]

I also have a onilahensis in shade and the one in sun shows much better color on the emerging spear has a red burgundy color 

[mistyinca]

7 hours ago, AZPalms said:

Although not as thin trunked, Majesty palms are cheap and do have a coco look. With plenty of water and food, they do well here in the desert. Syargus like syagrus botryophora have a nice look. syagrus amara look great too. Even Phoenix Rupicola looks tropical. 

 

Max 

 

My neighbor in Eastvale planted a majesty palm in his front yard, mistaking it for a queen palm. It actually grew incredibly fat.

[The Palm Nut]

On 6/26/2019 at 5:10 AM, mistyinca said:

Hello all

I am in Southern California and am planning a Hawaiian Resort themed backyard. I understand that coconut palms can not tolerate temps below 70 and so I need to find something that can look similar. I want a tall, skinny trunk palm with similar fronds that I can encourage to grow a little crooked (like in the picture below).

Can anyone recommend some good substitutes? Currently I’m thinking I’ll have to resort to queen palms (not super skinny) and maybe I can achieve the skinny crooked look with California fan palms. 

But I know there are some varieties I don’t know about. 

Thank you,

Misty

Try the Ravenea glauca. Should tick all the boxes.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Misty, If you want to try Kentia palms, Lowe’s will happily order big sun grown ones in 15 gallon or 24” box at a fraction of the cost of most nurseries. I buy them for my clients and they’re really big, already trunking in 15 gallons and you can buy them as single trunked or multiples. Great buy! 

[ActualTrachycarpus]

I don't know if someone has mentioned this, but if you can get your hands on one, beccariopheonix madagascariensis are palms that give that coco look. I also don't know if you can grow Pritchardia in Riverside, but a lot of resorts throw in a mix of cocos and pritchardia. 

[JubaeaMan138]

You can grow pritchardia in riverside. becarriophoenix also grow here. Sounds like misty needs to come by my place and see what she can grow

[JubaeaMan138]

Pritchardia In shade out here

[branislav]

On 6/25/2019 at 9:51 PM, mistyinca said:

Oh...that's the Kentia palm. Yes; I had found those at Moon nursery, but they are very expensive. $900 each for 24" box, 5' tall. And I guess they take a long time to grow. I might get one of those, but my budget will limit me on those.

Stay away from Moon unless you have tons of $$$ burning holes in your pockets. You can get 24" Kentias for around $225 from East West Trees. If you want trunking (singles or multiples), look up Joe (Discovery Island Palms), Josh (Josh-O here), or Anthony (Hawaiian Plant Growers), or Jungle Music. These will all give you way better deals with way better plants.

[EastCanadaTropicals]

On 6/25/2019 at 3:27 PM, Ben in Norcal said:

California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) are very robust-trunked (FAT) and also remain shorter than their cousins, the Mexican Fan Palm (Washintonia robusta.)  I would recommend the latter if you want a taller/skinnier look.  That said there are much more unique palms you can grow - Washingtonia are weeds in essentially all of coastal California and the Central Valley.  I concur with the Kentia idea, if you can get them in box size.  Nothing will look more coconutty than them, at least for a long time.

Beccariophoenix and Parajubaea would be other ideas for the coconut look, though both are very robust-trunked.

Jubaea x Butia is also a bit coconut like, but has a very thick trunk.

[EastCanadaTropicals]

Ceroxylon Quinidiese might also be a good lookalike.

[EastCanadaTropicals]

On 6/25/2019 at 3:44 PM, palmsOrl said:

To me, that (a well-grown, mature Howea forsteriana) is about as close to the overall look of a mature winding Cocos as you get without actually being a Cocos.  Sure, Beccariophoenix leaves look much more like Cocos leaves, but the overall look as the palm trunks and gets some height to it is not quite there with Beccariophoenix, imo.

I recently saw some decent sized Beccariophoenix alfredii at a local nursery and they just look like greener mule palms to me.  On second thought, as I look at Google Images, some look a lot like coconut palms and some so-so.

Ceroxylon Quinidiese is a great lookalike, and Jubaea x Butia also looks a bit coconut like.

[sipalms]

On 6/26/2019 at 4:23 PM, Stelios said:

For me Ravenea rivularis is also a palm that can have some coconut look. It needs a lot of water to look the best but it should be easy to find in a good price. For a more mini version there is Ravenea glauca.

Absolutely Ravenea Rivularis gets my pic for an easy coconut clone. 

Check out this one I took a pic of yesterday, in Auckland NZ, all it would need is some dangling nuts and you'd fool any palm amateur.