Got coconuts! Dwarf Red Spicata hyb, that is

[PalmatierMeg]

After trying for years, I have finally germinated a coconut! Twelve and counting, to be exact. The bouncing baby Cocos come from my spectacular, bodacious Dwarf Red Spicata hybrid that has orange coconuts and petioles and a 24" diameter trunk. Last fall I lined up fallen seeds along the back wall of the house, covered them with palm fiber and mulch, then watered. About two weeks ago my husband noticed one orange spike rising above the mulch. Since then I found eleven more and expect more soon. All are now potted. I want to offer them for sale soon, after we figure out how to pack them and calculate a weight. Then I will post in sale forum. If you might be interested, drop me a PM.

I took the following photos of germinated seeds. Some show roots, others roots and new spike. Final photos are of the mother palm from last year.

[foxtail]

Nice, which is the final/top height of that palm?

[Palmaceae]

Very cool Meg! That coconut is a beautiful palm, so you should be able to sell all of them.

[Cluster]

That coconut is a very beautiful palm would be nice to see more recent pictures, I forgot how the community came to the conclusion it was a hybrid though.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Cluster

[DavidLee]

Meg, Back in October, I collected a large coconut underneath the Nawasi Tall Coconut at Fairchilds. It sprouted back in January and it has an orange appearance. My guess it is a Nawasi Tall and Spicata Hybrid since there is a lot of Spicatas around the Nawasi Tall.  My coconut sprout looks a lot like your's. It is very robust and orange. I will post photos tomorrow.

[Zeeth]

13 hours ago, DavidLee said:

Meg, Back in October, I collected a large coconut underneath the Nawasi Tall Coconut at Fairchilds. It sprouted back in January and it has an orange appearance. My guess it is a Nawasi Tall and Spicata Hybrid since there is a lot of Spicatas around the Nawasi Tall.  My coconut sprout looks a lot like your's. It is very robust and orange. I will post photos tomorrow.

Interesting. I collected 2 from underneath the Nawasi tall back in July. Here are mine. 

[User00]

On Sun Apr 10 2016 04:22:30 GMT+0530 (Sri Lanka Standard, PalmatierMeg said:

After trying for years, I have finally germinated a coconut! Twelve and counting, to be exact. The bouncing baby Cocos come from my spectacular, bodacious Dwarf Red Spicata hybrid that has orange coconuts and petioles and a 24" diameter trunk. Last fall I lined up fallen seeds along the back wall of the house, covered them with palm fiber and mulch, then watered. About two weeks ago my husband noticed one orange spike rising above the mulch. Since then I found eleven more and expect more soon. All are now potted. I want to offer them for sale soon, after we figure out how to pack them and calculate a weight. Then I will post in sale forum. If you might be interested, drop me a PM.

I took the following photos of germinated seeds. Some show roots, others roots and new spike. Final photos are of the mother palm from last year.

 

 

there is verity called " bottle king coconut", smiler appearance of this coconut, popular for it's  sweet water 

[DavidLee]

Zeeth. Here is mine. Possible Nawassi Tall and Red Spicata Hybird. It sprouted at the beginning of January. It took about two months to sprout.  

[Zeeth]

7 minutes ago, DavidLee said:

Zeeth. Here is mine. Possible Nawassi Tall and Red Spicata Hybird. It sprouted at the beginning of January. It took about two months to sprout.  

Looks similar to my smaller one. The larger of my two had a much larger coconut than the smaller one (and the petioles are less orange).

Here's the larger of the two when I first collected it. It's a little easier to see how large the coconut is in this pic.

I suspect the larger one may be a true Nawasi, and the smaller one may be a hybrid. Time will tell though. Nawassi X Red Spicata certainly sounds like an interesting hybrid. 

[DavidLee]

I am not so crazy about Spicatas. I rather it be a Red Malay Hybird. It is possible but most likely not. 

I have read that Tall variety Coconuts are not self pollinators. If that is true, every coconut that comes from that tree is not true to seed or a true Nawassi.  

[Zeeth]

26 minutes ago, DavidLee said:

I am not so crazy about Spicatas. I rather it be a Red Malay Hybird. It is possible but most likely not. 

I have read that Tall variety Coconuts are not self pollinators. If that is true, every coconut that comes from that tree is not true to seed or a true Nawassi.  

They can be under the right conditions (high enough heat/humidity to encourage multiple flower bracts opening at the same time). 

[DavidLee]

Well you will have a real prize if it is a pure Nawassi. Even it has tall traits, only way to really know is to conduct a DNA sequence analysis. 

[palmfriend]

What a beautiful palm and congratulations!

I would love to try a red spicata over here - it would probably be the first one at all in Japan -

but I guess the delivery won`t go through... So all I have left is waiting for a spicata coconut washed ashore

However, all the best for the selling!

best regards

 

[Kevin S]

 Thanks for showing the pics as one real nice colorful coconut palm tree.  That is one palm tree I wouldn't mind Monsanto's throw in some fish DNA to make it a cold hardy LOL.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

On April 9, 2016 at 6:52:30 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

After trying for years, I have finally germinated a coconut! Twelve and counting, to be exact. The bouncing baby Cocos come from my spectacular, bodacious Dwarf Red Spicata hybrid that has orange coconuts and petioles and a 24" diameter trunk. Last fall I lined up fallen seeds along the back wall of the house, covered them with palm fiber and mulch, then watered. About two weeks ago my husband noticed one orange spike rising above the mulch. Since then I found eleven more and expect more soon. All are now potted. I want to offer them for sale soon, after we figure out how to pack them and calculate a weight. Then I will post in sale forum. If you might be interested, drop me a PM.

I took the following photos of germinated seeds. Some show roots, others roots and new spike. Final photos are of the mother palm from last year.

That is a beautiful coconut tree.  I wish our climate supported their growth as I'd be sure to buy some from you.  Coconuts are the quintessential tropical plant, and when we'll grown, among the mist visually beautiful plants on earth, imo.  The color of the fruits against that blue sky are just fantastic.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2016‎ ‎6‎:‎50‎:‎49‎, Zeeth said:

Looks similar to my smaller one. The larger of my two had a much larger coconut than the smaller one (and the petioles are less orange).

Here's the larger of the two when I first collected it. It's a little easier to see how large the coconut is in this pic.

I suspect the larger one may be a true Nawasi, and the smaller one may be a hybrid. Time will tell though. Nawassi X Red Spicata certainly sounds like an interesting hybrid. 

Keith,

You might want to bury the nut more.  I used to only halfway bury the nuts and yours seems to be sitting on top of the soil.  However from some info I have read from people in the tropics with a LOT MORE experience in growing coconut palms than us says that you need to bury the nut basically right up to the edge of where the trunk emerges from the husk.  This is done so that as the palm grows, the lower part of the trunk will not become weak.  Apparently the soil needs to be right up to the base of the trunk just like with other palms and other plants in order for the base of the trunk to be strong and healthy.  Just don't pile up any soil or mulch up around the trunk itself.

John

Edited April 18, 2016 by Mr. Coconut Palm

[Zeeth]

Just now, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Keith,

You might want to bury the nut more.  I used to only halfway bury the nuts and yours seems to be sitting on top of the soil.  However from some info I have read from people in the tropics with a LOT MORE experience in growing coconut palms than us says that you need to bury the nut basically right up to the edge of where the trunk emerges from the husk.  This is done so that as the palm grows, the lower part of the trunk will nut become weak.  Apparently the soil the needs to be right up to the base of the trunk just like with other palms and other plants in order for the base of the trunk to be strong and healthy.  Just don't pile up any soil or mulch up around the trunk itself.

John

That picture was taken at Fairchild. It had fallen from the tree and sprouted in place; when I took it home I planted it at the depth recommended by Dave Romney in his book "Growing Coconuts in South Florida". 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Just now, Zeeth said:

That picture was taken at Fairchild. It had fallen from the tree and sprouted in place; when I took it home I planted it at the depth recommended by Dave Romney in his book "Growing Coconuts in South Florida". 

What depth does he recommend planting them at?

 

[Zeeth]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

What depth does he recommend planting them at?

 

Here's the relevant page

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 minute ago, Zeeth said:

Here's the relevant page

hey Keith, from the diagram, it looks like the base of the trunk is actually under an inch or two of soil.  Isn't this bad?  I have always heard that you plant any plants including palms at the same depth they were growing at in the pot, and NEVER put any soil or mulch right up against the trunk.

John

[Zeeth]

Just now, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

hey Keith, from the diagram, it looks like the base of the trunk is actually under an inch or two of soil.  Isn't this bad?  I have always heard that you plant any plants including palms at the same depth they were growing at in the pot, and NEVER put any soil or mulch right up against the trunk.

John

I think it's meant to represent the curvature of the planting hole. The diagram isn't the best, but the written part is pretty informative (and agrees with what you were saying). 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

2 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

I think it's meant to represent the curvature of the planting hole. The diagram isn't the best, but the written part is pretty informative (and agrees with what you were saying). 

I reread it, and you're right, it does say that.  I know it is very bad for plants to have any soil or mulch piled up around the trunk itself.  In fact over here in Texas, the Dirt Doctor (Howard Garrett) has been on a mission to get people to expose the root flare of their trees as many of them have been covered up deliberately or accidentally over the years, and thus by exposing the root flare and allowing the base of the trunks to breathe, they will be allowing their trees to go from existing to thriving!

[Blueman]

Coconuts send out their roots from the base of the trunk, not from the seed, so the whole seed should be underground to facailitate a wide and strong root system.