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Palmetto garden update, summer 2019


Zeeth

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Hi all, I got a request to post some pics of my garden in Palmetto, the coconut palms in particular. Here's an old thread to show how things have grown since 2015:

 

B. alfredii on the right. K. O. on the left in front, then a royal behind it and a foxy lady behind that:

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Double B. alfredii (this sprouted like this)

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Pritchardia hillebrandii at the base of a R. regia:

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Fiji dwarf coconut:

IMG_2107.thumb.JPG.98e912ae1eea77ccf58881fc6a4a96f1.JPG

Red Spicata coconut:

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Nawasi tall coconut:

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Panama tall coconut:

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Carpoxylon macrospermum

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Pritchardia schattaueri:

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Orange petiole Hawaiian tall coconut (niu lelo)

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Big Pine Key Jamaican tall coconut:

IMG_2112.thumb.JPG.2b03166ee0c059768f0d3bde1bd17cc8.JPG

Maypan seedling (parent tree was a Maypan type coconut growing wild in the mangroves in Sarasota)

 

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Green Petiole Hawaiian Tall Coconut (niu hiwa) from Garrin Fullington. This is flowering for the first time this year, so I'm cutting all the spathes off the rest of my coconuts so I get some pure coconuts from it. The palm to the left of the red chairs is a Satakentia and to the right is a Veitchia.

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Coconuts I sprouted from Publix (from the Dominican Republic)

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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B. alfredii in the back (not irrigated):

IMG_2122.thumb.JPG.e331343f0856fbbe74f9c8f286b173a4.JPG

 

As a bonus, I drove by an old house today so I snapped some pictures from the car. All the palms were planted by me. There's Elaeis guineensis, a Maypan coconut. B. alfredii, xButiagrus, Adonidia, Carpentaria, Veitchia, and Wodyetia:

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Keith, I'd been waiting!  Thank you so much for taking time to share current photos of your garden.  The palms all look great and have grown a ton.  

Hard to believe that one row is all from de-husked coconuts from the store.  Also, it is impressive that coconut palms are naturalizing as far north as Sarasota.  Which has been your most cold hardy of the ones you are growing?

You have awesome taste in palms: Cocos, Roystonea, Carpentaria, Satakentia, Carpoxylon, Veitchia. :greenthumb:

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Wonderful garden Keith!!!

Magnificent collection!!!

Have any of the dwarf cocos produced seed?

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5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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That's a great garden!  Seeing the sized of those Beccariophoenix Alfredii makes me really glad I picked up 5 from MB when I got a chance!  Oddly enough the K.O. seems to have only grown about 1-2 feet since the photo in 2015, which is remarkably slow.  The coconuts are all growing really fast, considering some of them were barely pinnate back in 2015.  What kind of soil mix and irrigation are you using for them?  My two generic HD coconuts are just barely going pinnate after 6 months, but they are in mostly sand with about 0.5 gallons/day dripline irrigation each.

As impressive as the coconuts are, I'm really impressed by the flamethrower looking great in full sun.  Mine are a lot smaller but sulky after the May drought.  I'm hoping mine get to looking as gorgeous as the ones at your parents!

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Thank you for sharing!  I love all of the different coconuts growing.  Hoping my Beccariophoenix picks up a little steam so it will look like the ones you've got in a decade or so.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Thanks for the comments everyone! 

12 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Which has been your most cold hardy of the ones you are growing?

So far it seems that the the green petiole Hawaiian tall and Central Florida sourced Jamaican tall are my hardiest, but the wild Maypan seems to be close. I actually lost my old Jamaican tall coconut from Kopsick in 2018 to bud rot. I think it was a combination of cold and sprinkler water getting in the crown, but I'm not sure. I've got a replacement growing in a pot at my house in Tampa, but I also have a Jamaican tall from Anna Maria Island on the other side of the house growing too (which I forgot to get a picture of). If I were to pick only one variety based on my experience though, I'd go with the Hawaiian tall.

10 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Have any of the dwarf cocos produced seed?

Not yet. The Fiji Dwarf is getting big enough to seed soon though.

10 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

What kind of soil mix and irrigation are you using for them?

The soil is pretty much pure sand. I used to mulch heavily twice a year, so there's some topsoil layer, but I don't visit the garden often anymore so I haven't had time for a good, thick mulching in a while. Most of the garden is on well-water irrigation which puts out about 1.5 inches, 3 times per week (twice a week in the winter except during cold spells, when it gets shut off). I fertilize twice per year with Florikan palm fertilizer. The flamethrower has done pretty well in that location actually!

10 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Thank you for sharing!  I love all of the different coconuts growing.  Hoping my Beccariophoenix picks up a little steam so it will look like the ones you've got in a decade or so.

All my B. alfredii in the garden are the same age, and I started them all from seed in 2009, so you might not have to wait a decade! Some are runts that don't grow much, but the one out front has always been pretty quick. The smaller one in the back gets no irrigation (the lines don't go back there and my micro-irrigation kit kept getting chewed up by the dog in that spot so I took it out), so it's grown slower but never shows sign of drought stress. It's definitely a good species for our area.

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Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Fascinating collection of coconut palms!

Thank you so much for your update!

best regards from Okinawa

Lars

 

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1 hour ago, Zeeth said:

If I were to pick only one variety based on my experience though, I'd go with the Hawaiian tall.

The soil is pretty much pure sand. I used to mulch heavily twice a year, so there's some topsoil layer, but I don't visit the garden often anymore so I haven't had time for a good, thick mulching in a while. Most of the garden is on well-water irrigation which puts out about 1.5 inches, 3 times per week (twice a week in the winter except during cold spells, when it gets shut off). I fertilize twice per year with Florikan palm fertilizer. The flamethrower has done pretty well in that location actually!

All my B. alfredii in the garden are the same age, and I started them all from seed in 2009, so you might not have to wait a decade! 

Thanks for the info on the soil/water/fert, mine are in sand and cypress mulch, which doesn't rot.  So it's pretty much pure sand with no significant topsoil layer.  I planted a couple of golden petiole dwarfs from HD this spring, they are super slow so far.  As I am sure that I'll eventually have to replace them, where did you find your Hawaiian and Central FL talls?

My Alfredii were all fairly "upright" and 5-6' tall in the ground when I bought them from MB Palms last summer.  Maybe it was just a characteristic of being pot grown close together in a nursery, or it could be that they just grow that way.  The petioles were relatively straight last year, but this summer they have started to show a pretty good amount of arching.  So the new spears grow straight up and are over 6' tall now, but when they open they start arching over and spreading out.  So the end result is that they aren't really getting much taller, but the fronds are getting a lot longer.

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There is a nursery in South Florida that sells Jamaican talls (cannot remember the name).  Kinzyjr knows the name.  They are the only commercial nursery that specifically does by name that I have ever heard of.

The Central Florida sourced Jamaican talls are from Kopsick Arboretum.  You have to happen to have a coconut(s) on the ground when you visit or have really good aim with a baseball.  I think July-November is when they tend to be ripe on the palms.

As far as Hawaiian talls, you can find them for sale on eBay.

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3 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

There is a nursery in South Florida that sells Jamaican talls (cannot remember the name).  Kinzyjr knows the name.  They are the only commercial nursery that specifically does by name that I have ever heard of.

The Central Florida sourced Jamaican talls are from Kopsick Arboretum.  You have to happen to have a coconut(s) on the ground when you visit or have really good aim with a baseball.  I think July-November is when they tend to be ripe on the palms.

As far as Hawaiian talls, you can find them for sale on eBay.

The nursery is Calusa Palms Nursery in Ft. Myers.  Their show schedule is on their site at the link.  If you want them to bring you a Jamaican Tall (or several) , it's best to contact them in advance by phone or email and ask.  I think Marc stopped bringing them to the various plant sales unless they are requested.  The two that I have are from Marc.  I bought a third one and donated it to Leu Gardens.  The next two sales coming up are:

    October  12th-13th, 2019 10am-3pm Fall Plant Festival USF Botanical Garden
__  12210 USF Pine Dr., Tampa, FL 33612 http://gardens.usf.edu/$5 Admission
 
 
     October 18th-19th, 2019 Rootstock Plant and Garden Festival Bok Tower Gardens 1151 Tower Boulevard
     Lake Wales, FL 33853 https://boktowergardens.org/member-only-events/ 

I used to frequent the USF Sale, but they usually end up having their sale the same day as the Fall CFPACS meetings.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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