Hey everyone,

I recently became very interested in coconut palms, and found my way to this forum, where I've found the highest quantity of quality palm tree growing knowledge! There seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people with great dreams (and successes) in growing beautiful palms in sometimes incompatible environments, and I think it's awesome!

All that being said, just in theory and as a thought provoking question, do you all think it could be possible to grow a coconut palm in a greenhouse?

Imagine you were in a location that obtained enough sunlight throughout the year to sustain them, were able to provide the proper environment for it, but just had too cold of a winter. Would you simply be able to make proper conditions for one by growing it in a greenhouse? This is assuming you have the space to fit it, as I've heard Fiji dwarf coconut palms are actually quite small for a coconut palm (correct me if I'm wrong). If you had all of that, would you be able to keep it happy and healthy enough to produce quality coconuts? This is also taking into account that space, funds, proper pollination, and any other limitations outside of climate are out of the picture, since it's just a theoretical question.

This is all in theory, as I know this is both very inefficient and difficult to do, but I have seen no straight examples of it (most likely for these very reasons), and was just curious if ya'll think it could be done.

Thanks again for being a great community! I'm glad to be a part of it.

Edited December 18, 20187 yr by Shihro

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, you could technically grow a coconut outdoors in a greenhouse put up around it when it starts to get cold for the winter, but that would definitely be costly and require a lot of effort and a bit of good planning. You would also have to deal with mold and other things like it, and I am sure bugs would make it their home. I believe someone did this with a Washingtonia robusta (Mexican Fan Palm) in zone 6 before. Seeing that you are in Austin, TX, I would assume light would not be an issue for you. 

Edited December 18, 20187 yr by PalmTreeDude

I dont know if they would fruit but I'm sure you could grow the tree in a controlled environment just about anywhere.

I lived in Iceland for a year and was amazed to see fruiting banana and tomato plants grown on a small commercial scale up there in huge greenhouses heated by the readily available geothermally heated water.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

May I suggest, as I have for the Brits who have endeavored to successfully grow coconuts (tall varieties) to their natural and physical limitations indoors (15ft more or less), to procure and grow true dwarf coconuts (i.e. Red Tahiti dwarf, Fiji dwarf, Chowgat dwarf, among others). Do not seek semi-dwarfs.  Heck, with true dwarfs, just under 20 ft in controlled conditions, I'm pretty sure you will see fruit.  Best of luck!

Edited December 18, 20187 yr by GottmitAlex

I know of some greenhouse coconuts in The Netherlands that are doing fine and are producing coconuts with the help of artificial light in winter 

There was a guy on this forum who grew coconuts in, Mississippi by growing it in the ground and building a greenhouse around it every year. He eventually got fruit.

Fiji Dwarf wouldn't be a bad one to try this with.

Thank you everyone for the answers. That was much faster than I expected haha! I was just wondering if it was possible, but now ya'll make me want to try it. If I ever do, I'll definitely post the process and results here for everyone to see!

 

9 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

May I suggest, as I have for the Brits who have endeavored to successfully grow coconuts (tall varieties) to their natural and physical limitations indoors (15ft more or less), to procure and grow true dwarf coconuts (i.e. Red Tahiti dwarf, Fiji dwarf, Chowgat dwarf, among others). Do not seek semi-dwarfs.  Heck, with true dwarfs, just under 20 ft in controlled conditions, I'm pretty sure you will see fruit.  Best of luck!

Definitely! I have read all about the differences between true dwarfs and semi dwarfs, and the Fijian dwarf was the only true dwarf variety that I found decent amounts of info on.

Does such a small tree even produce a sizable harvest? I have seen young Malayans produce some pretty impressive harvests, but I wonder if that's only because it's a semi dwarf. I guess if anything, harvests can be increased by keeping a nearby apiary of European honeybees to maximize pollination.

Also, are palm trees in general more vulnerable to local pests and diseases since they aren't used to dealing with them?

Thanks again everyone!

 

 

That's an interesting idea. I like the thought of building a temp greenhouse around it each year. Just for giggles, what nighttime low would signal "time to put up the greenhouse"? I'm in Riverside CA so sunlight wouldn't be an issue.... 

2 minutes ago, doubravsky said:

That's an interesting idea. I like the thought of building a temp greenhouse around it each year. Just for giggles, what nighttime low would signal "time to put up the greenhouse"? I'm in Riverside CA so sunlight wouldn't be an issue.... 

To be sure!  The only problem I see is the procurement of true dwarf cocos. Unlike the semi-dwarf and tall varieties, the true dwarfs can't be found on Ebay.

 

 

1 hour ago, GottmitAlex said:

To be sure!  The only problem I see is the procurement of true dwarf cocos. Unlike the semi-dwarf and tall varieties, the true dwarfs can't be found on Ebay.

I've seen "Samoan Dwarf" on there from Hawaii before. I never bought any, but that's the name for Niu Leka (aka Fiji Dwarf) in Hawaii, so it could be the right type.

2 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

I've seen "Samoan Dwarf" on there from Hawaii before. I never bought any, but that's the name for Niu Leka (aka Fiji Dwarf) in Hawaii, so it could be the right type.

I've heard they're the same variety, but I may be wrong. That's actually how I stumbled upon the Fijian dwarf variety.

1 hour ago, doubravsky said:

That's an interesting idea. I like the thought of building a temp greenhouse around it each year. Just for giggles, what nighttime low would signal "time to put up the greenhouse"? I'm in Riverside CA so sunlight wouldn't be an issue.... 

For most coconut palms (from what I've read), their favorite temperatures tend to stay above 50º-60ºF all year. Here it actually doesn't really go much below freezing, so maintaining a temperature close to that wouldn't be too hard.

3 hours ago, doubravsky said:

That's an interesting idea. I like the thought of building a temp greenhouse around it each year. Just for giggles, what nighttime low would signal "time to put up the greenhouse"? I'm in Riverside CA so sunlight wouldn't be an issue.... 

I build a little greenhouse around my Malayan dwarf coconut each winter and it is going from strength to strength,  I normally go by the daytime temperatures when I decide to put it up, when temps get down to around 20c. The coconut is now so big I can't fully cover it but it is also much stronger and more resistant to the elements than it was when it was small. I only really protect it for the 12 weeks of winter then everything comes down and is put away for next winter. 

21 hours ago, sandgroper said:

I build a little greenhouse around my Malayan dwarf coconut each winter and it is going from strength to strength,  I normally go by the daytime temperatures when I decide to put it up, when temps get down to around 20c. The coconut is now so big I can't fully cover it but it is also much stronger and more resistant to the elements than it was when it was small. I only really protect it for the 12 weeks of winter then everything comes down and is put away for next winter. 

Wow, that's awesome! Looks like building a temporary structure does a pretty solid job of keeping the tree safe. I can only imagine how well it would grow in a commercially sized greenhouse that had ideal humidity and temperature, if there was enough ceiling clearance to allow it to grow.

Hello there,

This is a photo I took two years ago in the Yume-no-shima-dome for tropical plants in Tokyo...

A fruiting cocos nucifera...

Best regards -

Lars

 

This might be a bit of an engineering feat and it wouldn't be the cheapest plan,  but for the green house idea: Get a true Dwarf Coconut Palm as others have suggested, dig out the floor of the green house so that it's lowered by 10 feet or so. Once that's done, instal a railroad-type track so that the actual green house ceiling and sides can be rolled over the pit with the Coconut Palm in it. You could either have the greenhouse propelled with an electric motor or if the materials are light enough, by pushing it. It you had it close by motor, you could attach a timer where the green house would slide over the palm every evening during the winter at a certain time, etc. The time idea would probably work best for areas like Southern California, where Winter nights are more predictable, etc.  Like I said before...this would be quite an engineering feat, but it's an idea...maybe.   

Edited March 27, 20197 yr by Mahalo2

On 12/18/2018 at 1:41 PM, sandgroper said:

I build a little greenhouse around my Malayan dwarf coconut each winter and it is going from strength to strength,  I normally go by the daytime temperatures when I decide to put it up, when temps get down to around 20c. The coconut is now so big I can't fully cover it but it is also much stronger and more resistant to the elements than it was when it was small. I only really protect it for the 12 weeks of winter then everything comes down and is put away for next winter. 

Great idea and your palm looks great! Continued success to you with your Malayan dwarf!!