How to germinate a COCONUT

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

A freind of mine gave me a large coconut from hawaii.  He got it at a japanese owned tourist shop.  It is in a pot with normal potting soil and the temp never falls below 70 F.  It has recently gained a small crack in the husk that shows some of the fibers.  Any advice?  Is the crack bad?  Its only been present scince around a week ago.

[PalmatierMeg]

Photos? It could be preparing to send up its first spike. It must crack the husk to emerge.

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

I will get one soon,  it looks NOTHING like this though

[sur4z]

Coconuts are pretty resilient...I just toss them in the bushes and plant them or give them away after they sprout.

[Howeadypsis]

I'd love the space to try one

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hi Keegan,

I received a large Golden variety Hawaiian Tall coconut in the husk shipped to me 30 years ago when I was in high school.  I potted it up in straight river sand since I didn't live near the beach at the time, in a 5 gal. pot and put it out in full sun in August, and watered it every day.  It sprouted the first week of October, about a month and a half after I got it.  But I lived in Cibolo, Texas (just east of San Antonio) at the time, and our highs were in the mid 90'sF dropping down to the 80'sF with lows in the 70'sF dropping down to the low to mid 60'sF by October over that time.  I am sure where you live, it is a lot cooler than that, but I would put it outside if your highs are at least around 80F and your lows are at least in the upper 50'sF to low 60'sF.  If you put it outdoors, only water it about once every 3 or 4 days when it's not raining, and since it is in potting soil.  Be sure to pour the water over the top of the nut and don't just water the soil around it.  The coconut down inside the husk has to be moist but not soggy wet in order to sprout, so you have to water the husk itself, so the water will soak down into the nut.  I have had them take as little as a month and a half, and as much as 11 months to sprout, but normally, they will sprout within 3 to 6 months.

John

P.S.  If you leave it inside, then put it in front of a south or west facing window where it can get some sunlight and heat, but only water it about once every 5 or 6 days inside, so it doesn't stay too wet.

[Walt]

About three weeks ago a bunch comprising 10 coconuts fell to the ground off of my palm. I doubt if they were fully developed. In any event, I threw all 10 of them on the ground (pure sand) up against the south side of my house (where it gets full sun all day long and the soil get very warm). If none sprout by mid fall I will just throw them on the burn pile. In any event, I have about 30 more coconuts on my palm, hoping that more bunches don't break off, allowing them to reach full maturity.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

18 minutes ago, Walt said:

About three weeks ago a bunch comprising 10 coconuts fell to the ground off of my palm. I doubt if they were fully developed. In any event, I threw all 10 of them on the ground (pure sand) up against the south side of my house (where it gets full sun all day long and the soil get very warm). If none sprout by mid fall I will just throw them on the burn pile. In any event, I have about 30 more coconuts on my palm, hoping that more bunches don't break off, allowing them to reach full maturity.

Walt,

Did you have a thunderstorm with high winds or something that could have caused that suddenly?  I know many small nuts will abort, especially when a palm first starts producing nuts, but to have a stem with medium to large sized nuts do that prematurely makes me wonder what would have caused it.  I am assuming the rest of the palm looks healthy?

John

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

here is the coconut

[oliver]

Hawaii has very strict ag rules and generally speaking, it is impossible to get a viable coconut seed out, unless shipped by an inspected facility. I tried a couple of times and each time, the inspector at the airport stuck an icepick like instrument through one of the eyes before handing it back to me. I suspect that this "killed" the nut, because none of them ever germinated.

[Ben in Norcal]

40 minutes ago, oliver said:

Hawaii has very strict ag rules and generally speaking, it is impossible to get a viable coconut seed out, unless shipped by an inspected facility. I tried a couple of times and each time, the inspector at the airport stuck an icepick like instrument through one of the eyes before handing it back to me. I suspect that this "killed" the nut, because none of them ever germinated.

You can buy viable coconut seeds at the airport to bring home - but not sure if it is easy to tell what variety they are.

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

I've had no problem in Hawaii airport, as long as the coco nut in unsprouted as they consider it coulda rooted in ground . I have shipped coconuts from Hawaii before by slapping a priority sticker and postage on the nut and mailing it without being wrapped.