all this talk about coconuts

[KennyRE317]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

[empireo22]

go for it! just plant it in a good spot near a wall in pure beach sand with black rocks on the top. please take pictures.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Go ahead, this is a great learning experience for you. Killing a coconut is a rite of passage that many California palm growers undertake. For some it takes a while to kill it, just prolonging the agony. For other more lucky folks, they get it over very quickly. With the clay you have, you'll probably end up in the latter batch and won't suffer for very long.

You may ask yourself if it's been available at the big box stores for years, why aren't there any around?

If you're gonna be serious about a coconut, don't buy the ones at the big box store, try to get a variety that actually stands a chance. Look for jamaican tall".

[Hammer]

Look through some of the old threads by Cristobal. Might be very helpful.

[Zeeth]

If you're going to go through with it, make sure to also plant a Becarriophoenix alfredii so you have something that won't have almost assured death!

[KennyRE317]

at least now I have something to research, see how to grow coconuts in socal

[Gonzer]

[SanDimas]

http://www.palmtalk....attach_id=92845

http://www.palmtalk....-beach-coconut/

Threads on the Newport Beach Coconut.

Cristobal apparently is very popular and regularly sighted in the Spanish Forum of PT.

The Spanish forum has this coconut topic listed on top......Cocoteros mas al Norte y al Sur Del Mundo.

30,000 view since Jan of 2009.

Cheers

[Stevetoad]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

dont make me find the picture of the one i grew to perfection!

[SanDimas]

[SanDimas]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

dont make me find the picture of the one i grew to perfection!

Steve

Ill get the violins ready for yours also.....

BRING IT ON!!!

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Get that out of your head

Is what they told me now

Tried to clip my wings

Keep my feet on the ground

But I got something

They could never have

I got a coconut

I got love tonight

And it won't die

No matter what they do

It won't die

No matter what they say on PalmTalk

It won't die

No matter what they do

Take your phony ideals

And get 'em out of my face

Because I do what I want

And not what others say

'Cause I got something

They could never have

I got a coconut

I got love tonight

It won't die

No matter what they do

It won't die

No matter what they say on PalmTalk

It won't die

No matter what they do

Get up get out

They said to me

There ain't no sense

In chasing dreams

Stop

I got something

They could never have

I got something

They could never have

I got something

They could never have

I got a coconut

I got faith tonight that it will grow

It won't die

No matter what they do

It won't die

No matter what they say on PalmTalk

It won't die

No matter what they do

It won't die

No matter what they do

- MADCAP - IT WON'T DIE (only slightly modified)

[Stevetoad]

LOOK AT IT!!! LOOK AT ITTTTT!!! NOW LOOK AWAY!!! NOW LOOK BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!

[KennyRE317]

LOOK AT IT!!! LOOK AT ITTTTT!!! NOW LOOK AWAY!!! NOW LOOK BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!

santee coconut.jpg

wow ... that doesn't look that great, they look so much nicer when indoors at the big box store, but i'm not looking to grow indoors

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

LOOK AT IT!!! LOOK AT ITTTTT!!! NOW LOOK AWAY!!! NOW LOOK BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!

santee coconut.jpg

Steve, did you follow Matty's advice of finding all your address labels until you find one that says Santee on it?

Ironically, Kenny lives in the same climate zone as the Newport Coconut, so technically speaking, it's actually quite feasible for him to grow one, might even be as handsome and desirable as the Newport coconut.

Steve, as an aside, I found a smiley just for you!

[KennyRE317]

LOOK AT IT!!! LOOK AT ITTTTT!!! NOW LOOK AWAY!!! NOW LOOK BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!

santee coconut.jpg

Steve, did you follow Matty's advice of finding all your address labels until you find one that says Santee on it?

Ironically, Kenny lives in the same climate zone as the Newport Coconut, so technically speaking, it's actually quite feasible for him to grow one, might even be as handsome and desirable as the Newport coconut.

Steve, as an aside, I found a smiley just for you!

currently i'm 7 degrees warmer than Newport Coast ... I just checked the yearly data between Seal Beach and Newport Coast

Seal Beach - Newport Coast

2013 High ... 99.3 - 93.3

2013 Low ... 31.8 - 40.9

2012 High ... 120.2 (must be an error) - ***

2012 Low ... 34.7 - ***

no 2012 data for Newport Coast

i'm not sure where the Newport Coco is but i'm a bit about warmer in the summer and colder in the winter, I didn't think it got down as cold as it shows, i figured low 40's but i guess the overnight temp dips even further. one thing i can try and give it is a better microclimate

[Zeeth]

If you want to give it a real chance, get a tall type from Hawaii. The Jamaican talls didn't fare as well here in the year that we had prolonged cold as I had expected. Even though they're a few degrees cold hardier from what I've seen/heard, they don't seem to be able to put up with cool temps any better than a Malayan. The Newport coco is a tall type from Hawaii btw, but that's pretty anecdotal and I wouldn't take it to mean much. The south pacific seems to have more spots at elevation where people cultivate coconuts than the atlantic ocean, so that may mean something.

[Stevetoad]

Kenny, if you don't have one yet i would get a weather station. It's a great tool to see how cold you get and see what gets damaged at what temp. One thing to think about is that a coconut will never be a long term palm in California. So you can plant a coco that might live a while and never looks great and will eventually die or plant a better suited palm that will look great for many years. Even if you got one to live say 5 years that 5 years of growth you lost on a better suited palm. If I were you I would plant a b.alfredii instead. Very close look but grows so much better.anyway. Good luck on whatever you decide to to.

[Zeeth]

If I were you I would plant a b.alfredii instead. Very close look but grows so much better.anyway. Good luck on whatever you decide to to.

This is something you have to keep in mind. In marginal areas of Florida, coconuts will grow for a while before being killed in a bad freeze, but until then they usually look pretty good and will often grow to fruiting maturity because of how quickly they grow in our climate. Though where I currently live has coconuts that made it through the bad winters here a few years back, if I were to live more inland, and in a colder area, I would try growing coconuts, but have them planted with B. alfredii at the same time, as the quick growth of the former will leave you with something to be satisfied of short term, while the long term reliability of the latter will remain an anchor point for when the coconut dies and you have to replant from a seedling again. Not to dis the growth rate of the B. alfredii, it's just nothing compared to a well fed coconut. Two years of perfect care of a coconut will get you a fat trunking palm.

California is a completely different story, as a coconut would look bad for most of the year if it does survive, and will grow so slowly that you might as well plant a B. alfredii because that'll grow to size faster anyway. Look at how large the one Matty B has after 5 years from a 1 leaf seedling, and extrapolate that to 23 years of growth to compare to what it would look like compared to the Newport coconut if you did happen to succeed with a coconut.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/34845-beccariophoenix-mad-alfred/

[KennyRE317]

Kenny, if you don't have one yet i would get a weather station. It's a great tool to see how cold you get and see what gets damaged at what temp. One thing to think about is that a coconut will never be a long term palm in California. So you can plant a coco that might live a while and never looks great and will eventually die or plant a better suited palm that will look great for many years. Even if you got one to live say 5 years that 5 years of growth you lost on a better suited palm. If I were you I would plant a b.alfredii instead. Very close look but grows so much better.anyway. Good luck on whatever you decide to to.

What's this weather station?

[Stevetoad]

Kenny, if you don't have one yet i would get a weather station. It's a great tool to see how cold you get and see what gets damaged at what temp. One thing to think about is that a coconut will never be a long term palm in California. So you can plant a coco that might live a while and never looks great and will eventually die or plant a better suited palm that will look great for many years. Even if you got one to live say 5 years that 5 years of growth you lost on a better suited palm. If I were you I would plant a b.alfredii instead. Very close look but grows so much better.anyway. Good luck on whatever you decide to to.

What's this weather station?

I got one from Oregon scientific. It has 3 sensors a wind gauge and a rain gauge. It was only like 150$ or so.

[KennyRE317]

Kenny, if you don't have one yet i would get a weather station. It's a great tool to see how cold you get and see what gets damaged at what temp. One thing to think about is that a coconut will never be a long term palm in California. So you can plant a coco that might live a while and never looks great and will eventually die or plant a better suited palm that will look great for many years. Even if you got one to live say 5 years that 5 years of growth you lost on a better suited palm. If I were you I would plant a b.alfredii instead. Very close look but grows so much better.anyway. Good luck on whatever you decide to to.

What's this weather station?

I got one from Oregon scientific. It has 3 sensors a wind gauge and a rain gauge. It was only like 150$ or so.

ah okay, i know what you're talking about now. i'll definitely be putting one of those in an open area of the yard soon, i'm still using just a pair of thermometers right now

[Jeff Searle]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Absolutely not! They grow like weeds and will produce nuts in only a short few years. Three to four feet a year in growth can be expected. Their all over the place in my "area".

[Stevetoad]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Absolutely not! They grow like weeds and will produce nuts in only a short few years. Three to four feet a year in growth can be expected. Their all over the place in my "area".

That's cold Jeff. Very cold.

[Stevetoad]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Off topic. Kenny, you've been on palmtalk since April and have been an active member. Maybe it's time to put up an avatar. It's your "palmtalk face" so pick wisely

[Hammer]

Kenny, if you want to grow coconut, go for it. Recognize you're sledding uphill. Go study the Newport palm. Do it with your shoes off. You'll see what I mean. Study your yard. And be sure to take precautions...and don't put it in a spot that is a real show case spot. But be sure it is warm and sunny whenever you put it. I would keep it mobile for a few years if possible. Bring it inside during winter.

But don't let anyone discourage you. Even if it doesn't make it, you will learn a lot about how to care for other marginal palms that might pay off in other ways. If the palm does well, you will be able to post a great big "I told you so".

[KennyRE317]

Kenny, if you want to grow coconut, go for it. Recognize you're sledding uphill. Go study the Newport palm. Do it with your shoes off. You'll see what I mean. Study your yard. And be sure to take precautions...and don't put it in a spot that is a real show case spot. But be sure it is warm and sunny whenever you put it. I would keep it mobile for a few years if possible. Bring it inside during winter.

But don't let anyone discourage you. Even if it doesn't make it, you will learn a lot about how to care for other marginal palms that might pay off in other ways. If the palm does well, you will be able to post a great big "I told you so".

i think that's the biggest lesson i want to learn. i figured it's readily available down the street and it's like $10-15 for a good sized starter.

[KennyRE317]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Off topic. Kenny, you've been on palmtalk since April and have been an active member. Maybe it's time to put up an avatar. It's your "palmtalk face" so pick wisely

thanks for the reminder, i'll see if i can find something forum related. i'm hoping to be here for many years to come, one day i'll reflect back on these posts of mine and see how far I've come.

[Neel]

Definitely a rite of passage. I bought one from a trip to Hawaii years ago when I was barely in high school and so naive about palms. It grew for about a year then croaked in the second winter. I couldn't understand why it died and wanted it to grow so bad, I actually cried after I found out it was dead. My parents explained there's no way those can survive in so cal. Oh well...then I discovered all the other palms out there...

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Go ahead, this is a great learning experience for you. Killing a coconut is a rite of passage that many California palm growers undertake. For some it takes a while to kill it, just prolonging the agony. For other more lucky folks, they get it over very quickly. With the clay you have, you'll probably end up in the latter batch and won't suffer for very long.

You may ask yourself if it's been available at the big box stores for years, why aren't there any around?

Axel, I've often wondered the same about Majesty Palm, The local big box stores sell them by the truck loads for over a decade, but never see anyone growing in the yards around Modesto.... Except one that Glenn pointed out to me about 6 blocks from my house.

A beautiful trunking specimen growing in someones front yard . Sadly the new owners of the house took a chain saw to it.

I've tried to grow them.. no luck!

[grant b.]

speaking of big box stores selling plants that wont grown in the area, over the weekend I spotted a 7 gallon hyophorbe lagenicaulis with a foot (truth) of trunk for $60. talk about tempting. obviously it had just been delivered from florida and was awaiting someone to take it home and "give it a try"...

[Hammer]

speaking of big box stores selling plants that wont grown in the area, over the weekend I spotted a 7 gallon hyophorbe lagenicaulis with a foot (truth) of trunk for $60. talk about tempting. obviously it had just been delivered from florida and was awaiting someone to take it home and "give it a try"...

awww cool! Some people are growing them where they"can't" grow. Maybe worth a shot.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Go ahead, this is a great learning experience for you. Killing a coconut is a rite of passage that many California palm growers undertake. For some it takes a while to kill it, just prolonging the agony. For other more lucky folks, they get it over very quickly. With the clay you have, you'll probably end up in the latter batch and won't suffer for very long.

You may ask yourself if it's been available at the big box stores for years, why aren't there any around?

Axel, I've often wondered the same about Majesty Palm, The local big box stores sell them by the truck loads for over a decade, but never see anyone growing in the yards around Modesto.... Except one that Glenn pointed out to me about 6 blocks from my house.

A beautiful trunking specimen growing in someones front yard . Sadly the new owners of the house took a chain saw to it.

I've tried to grow them.. no luck!

Jeff, because they're so readily available, majesties do show up around town. There are some big ones in Watsonville out of all places, and I've seen some random ones in Mountain View as well. People do try them, some end up looking yellow and drought stressed as they often do.

I lost mine to lack of Summer water, but that was 15 years ago when I was first getting into palms.

I am trying again now that I know more about their soil and magnesium requirements. This is a prime candidate that would benefit from dolomite lime, it just needs to go into a spot where it has more sun.

[KennyRE317]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Go ahead, this is a great learning experience for you. Killing a coconut is a rite of passage that many California palm growers undertake. For some it takes a while to kill it, just prolonging the agony. For other more lucky folks, they get it over very quickly. With the clay you have, you'll probably end up in the latter batch and won't suffer for very long.

You may ask yourself if it's been available at the big box stores for years, why aren't there any around?

Axel, I've often wondered the same about Majesty Palm, The local big box stores sell them by the truck loads for over a decade, but never see anyone growing in the yards around Modesto.... Except one that Glenn pointed out to me about 6 blocks from my house.

A beautiful trunking specimen growing in someones front yard . Sadly the new owners of the house took a chain saw to it.

I've tried to grow them.. no luck!

those are sold everywhere here and usually sold in clusters of 5-8 plants and each plant is usually fairly young. i bought one from the grocery store a couple of years ago and i fried mine since i didn't have many things to water i forgot all about it. currently it's growing like crazy and looks as healthy as it can be sitting in full sun. i know of a few houses here that have pretty large ones growing in the front yards, they have some massive bases

[US_Marine]

I think i'm going to give in and regardless of what I've read on PT i'm going to go to one of the big box stores and just buy one ... can't be that hard to grow .... can it?

Go ahead, this is a great learning experience for you. Killing a coconut is a rite of passage that many California palm growers undertake. For some it takes a while to kill it, just prolonging the agony. For other more lucky folks, they get it over very quickly. With the clay you have, you'll probably end up in the latter batch and won't suffer for very long.

You may ask yourself if it's been available at the big box stores for years, why aren't there any around?

Axel, I've often wondered the same about Majesty Palm, The local big box stores sell them by the truck loads for over a decade, but never see anyone growing in the yards around Modesto.... Except one that Glenn pointed out to me about 6 blocks from my house.

A beautiful trunking specimen growing in someones front yard . Sadly the new owners of the house took a chain saw to it.

I've tried to grow them.. no luck!

I've seen several in Modesto. There are actually quite a lot in the valley. I know of one which has been in the ground for about 5 years now and survived some pretty nasty freezes. On an average winter it doesnt get any damage. They do best with a southern wall or with canopy. But back on topic, I say go for growing a coconut! Why not? Some people just enjoy the challenege no matter what the outcome. I know I do.

[Funkthulhu]

Kenny gives me hope. . .

Now I want to kill one in Nebraska!

[Hammer]

Kenny gives me hope. . .

Now I want to kill one in Nebraska!

May your wish be granted...I think.

[KennyRE317]

Kenny gives me hope. . .

Now I want to kill one in Nebraska!

that might be a bit north for coco's lol .... but if they can be grown in Mississippi it kind of gives me hope too

[empireo22]

Did you buy the coconut yet?

[Funkthulhu]

hard to come buy 'round here. . .