the Italian coconut that doesn't give up

[Aleitalyyy]

hello guys this is my coconut palm that grows here in Italy in a pot... now it's 3 years old and spends 7 months outside, and 4 months indoors behind a sunny window... provenance palm of those of the supermarkets as a dutch elongated hothouse plant.

[Aleitalyyy]

my location is in northern italy in the liguria coast near the sea in alassio city...

the climate in winter is definitely not for a coconut .... but don't say that you can't grow a coconut in a pot.

[gilles06]

Nice healthy coconut palm. But what will you do when it comes top big?

[PalmatierMeg]

Nice looking, well grown coconut.

[Aleitalyyy]

1 hour ago, gilles06 said:

Nice healthy coconut palm. But what will you do when it comes top big?

when it will be overgrown I will try to put it in the ground covering the palm in the months from November to March with cloths and heated cables... I'll try and then we'll see... up to now it has seen temperatures up to 12° Celsius and inside house lives at 16\18 degrees celsius ...

Edited November 17, 2022 by Aleitalyyy

[GottmitAlex]

4 hours ago, Aleitalyyy said:

when it will be overgrown I will try to put it in the ground covering the palm in the months from November to March with cloths and heated cables... I'll try and then we'll see... up to now it has seen temperatures up to 12° Celsius and inside house lives at 16\18 degrees celsius ...

How cold does it get there? 

2c? 3c?  (Usually)

[Aleitalyyy]

Hi Alex ...

usually here we are in January (the coldest month) around a minimum of 3/4° celsius and max 15/16° celsius ...

when the coconut gets too big for the pot I'll try it in the ground, repairing it with cloths and some heaters or cables that I'll invent on the spot... meanwhile now my coconut is getting stronger and growing at temperatures that are not very hot...

[Aleitalyyy]

@guruguhello dear I would like us to keep you informed about our potted cocos...

since we have very similar if not the same winter.

in alex tajuana's post you wrote that your coconut has been on a cold veranda and has seen cool temperatures at night... my idea would be to put my coconut in the ground one day building a greenhouse on it and then removing it in the summer ... we have the same winter, but my summer is hotter here in the province of imperia in liguria....

I have a question is your coconut now always on the cold veranda and will it spend the winter there? let me know dear and thanks ... have a good weekend everyone.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Aleitalyyy

[Aleitalyyy]

as you can see we are roughly on the same latitude... I am by the sea and you are more in the hills...

[gurugu]

21 hours ago, Aleitalyyy said:

as you can see we are roughly on the same latitude... I am by the sea and you are more in the hills...

Yes we both are at 43ºN.

Since last February my coconuts have been inside the unheated glassed veranda and they will spend the hole winter there. I only bring in the smaller coconuts, the ones I bought last october, because they are still small and haven´t grown much, though they started growing the very first day I trasplanted into bigger pots.

So far the lowest temperature in the porch was last night 11,5ºC. I plan to plant the biggest one inside the greenhouse next summer and cross my fingers.

[Aleitalyyy]

1 hour ago, gurugu said:

Yes we both are at 43ºN.

Since last February my coconuts have been inside the unheated glassed veranda and they will spend the hole winter there. I only bring in the smaller coconuts, the ones I bought last october, because they are still small and haven´t grown much, though they started growing the very first day I trasplanted into bigger pots.

So far the lowest temperature in the porch was last night 11,5ºC. I plan to plant the biggest one inside the greenhouse next summer and cross my fingers.

great great news.... when you want update with photos of your coconuts .... I am very pleased ... we share the same experiment ....

[Aleitalyyy]

1 ora fa, gurugu ha detto:

 

one important thing I tell you is not to keep the underplate in the vase... and if you can, lift the vase off the ground on a trolley so that the vase doesn't touch the cold floor...

[Aleitalyyy]

[Aleitalyyy]

@ando.wsu 

hello dear, I'd like  to know how your coconut is doing and if you give me an update  kindly thank you

[Aleitalyyy]

@Melvin B

good morning we are no longer updated ... I would like to see a photo of your coconut and alfredo thanks

[Arecaceus]

I don't think that your climates are SO similar. But you have a great growing location for being this far north. I know that your area between Imperia and Genova is very well protected from cold weather. Much better than further West in the South of France or even further East down the Western coast of Italy. Your idea sounds great. And with climate change in the back this could actually work for a long time. Maybe you don't have the warm winters of Sicilly but I think when you build a green house around it, sunny winter days can heat up this plam very well. I'll stay tuned! I have never seen a potted Coco this big outside of the tropics! 😲

[gurugu]

Last two weeks, minimum temperatures have dropped, lowest has been 4/5ºC outdoors and 11/12ºC in the porch. And it has been rather cloudy, that´s why I stopped watering cocos at usual pace. Now I have watered them every 4/5 days, but they didn´t grow. I once poured water in the plate but it kept on not growing. Yesterday I watered with diluted fertilizer and they have begun growing again. Night temperatures have begun to rise again. Around 14/15ºc.

[Aleitalyyy]

@Hortulanusthank you so much dear... I'm glad to read that my efforts are affecting... yes I have really excellent temperatures to be so far north, for example tonight it was 6 degrees celsius and at 11 we were at 16 degrees celsius! in the last 3 years the temperatures have become warmer in winter... the snow in the mountains lasts less and less... many years ago it lasted until April... now in February there is already no more snow! I think it could work in the area of Alassio is well sheltered from the north wind and the sun warms even in winter! I'll keep you posted ... meanwhile my coconut grows like a rocket ... at a temperature of 16/18 degrees celsius inside the house!

Edited December 7, 2022 by Aleitalyyy

[Aleitalyyy]

@gurugumy friend the advice I can give you is not to water too much with those minimum temperatures that you tell me ... the coconut stops growing below 15 degrees Celsius more or less! do not keep saucers where the water stagnates... the roots will rot. and the fertilizer use chemical and do not use organic fertilizer because it too will cause the roots to rot ... also put some fine kitchen salt every now and then on the nut and around it, the salt kills bacteria and mold in the roots ... these tips are there I apply on my coconut! let's say my coconut is being my guinea pig...

[Trópico]

Nice!

[GottmitAlex]

https://youtu.be/qV8g9TxXzGQ

[Aleitalyyy]

23 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

https://youtu.be/qV8g9TxXzGQ

yes salt works wonders... I also sprayed sea water in the crown 2 months ago....

 

[Arecaceus]

On 12/7/2022 at 10:10 PM, Aleitalyyy said:

@Hortulanusthank you so much dear... I'm glad to read that my efforts are affecting... yes I have really excellent temperatures to be so far north, for example tonight it was 6 degrees celsius and at 11 we were at 16 degrees celsius! in the last 3 years the temperatures have become warmer in winter... the snow in the mountains lasts less and less... many years ago it lasted until April... now in February there is already no more snow! I think it could work in the area of Alassio is well sheltered from the north wind and the sun warms even in winter! I'll keep you posted ... meanwhile my coconut grows like a rocket ... at a temperature of 16/18 degrees celsius inside the house!

Yes I used to go there on vacation a couple of years, always in spring around March. I stayed in Diano Marina and on the way down I had to drive through the mountains. Even at that time of the year the passes were all closed, so I had to take expensive toll roads/tunnels. And it was always crazy to see because it's only very mild down at the bottom next to the sea. Just driving through the coastal mountains on the autostrada it was way colder and pretty rainy. This is over 10 years ago already...
Climate change is happening faster than I (and probably everybody) expected. In my area we are used to mild winters and a long growing season but it gets longer from year to year. It feels like spring is very short and summer starts alrady in spring. It's actually making planting sometimes difficult because sunlight and drought comes so early that you have to keep an eye on new plants. Sadly weird weather events like cold snaps, droughts, heat waves and big storms are getting common. I'm very excited to see how this is going to shape plantings all around Europe. Who knows we might see some Cocos planted on some Mediterranen islands some day...

But for now I'm interested in your Coco project lol! I'm surprised it's doing so good indoors with such low temperatures.

[Aleitalyyy]

yes, diano marina is very mild like imperia let's say all the south west part going towards france, there is many microclimates ... i think that with a greenhouse fitted for hat and christmas lights cables inside with a timer that alternates between light and dark is very feasible! the coldest months are only 3 at the end, and when the sun comes out with shelter it heats up a lot! i will try guys!!!

[gurugu]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:19 PM, Aleitalyyy said:

yes salt works wonders... I also sprayed sea water in the crown 2 months ago....

 

 

On 12/7/2022 at 10:55 PM, GottmitAlex said:

https://youtu.be/qV8g9TxXzGQ

Last time I used salt on my coconut, it died soon after. I don´t know if it was because of the salt, but....

I´ve seen cocos in San José de Costa Rica at 1.100 metres a.s.l. with fruits and they don´t see any salt at all. I don´t think they are watered with salted water either.

[Aleitalyyy]

 

I put salt in mine a year ago when I saw the central spear with black mold... he took it off immediately! let's say I give it 2/3 times a year...

[Arecaceus]

13 hours ago, Aleitalyyy said:

yes, diano marina is very mild like imperia let's say all the south west part going towards france, there is many microclimates ... i think that with a greenhouse fitted for hat and christmas lights cables inside with a timer that alternates between light and dark is very feasible! the coldest months are only 3 at the end, and when the sun comes out with shelter it heats up a lot! i will try guys!!!

Good luck! 😁

[GottmitAlex]

12 hours ago, gurugu said:

 

Last time I used salt on my coconut, it died soon after. I don´t know if it was because of the salt, but....

I´ve seen cocos in San José de Costa Rica at 1.100 metres a.s.l. with fruits and they don´t see any salt at all. I don´t think they are watered with salted water either.

Salt is not required but it helps.

There are at least 3 published papers that I know of on this subject.

 

 

commonSaltFetilizationOnCocounuts (1).pdf

[GottmitAlex]

Coconut fruit is a huge part of their GDP in that country. 

 

[gurugu]

Is it also used on small coconut plants? or only with already mature ones? 

I poured Epson salt on my cocos, but only a couple of pinches. And it began to decline. 

[Axel Amsterdam]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:34 AM, Aleitalyyy said:

yes, diano marina is very mild like imperia let's say all the south west part going towards france, there is many microclimates ... i think that with a greenhouse fitted for hat and christmas lights cables inside with a timer that alternates between light and dark is very feasible! the coldest months are only 3 at the end, and when the sun comes out with shelter it heats up a lot! i will try guys!!!

I will closely follow your experiment. There is a nice one in Paris in a greenhouse doing well so who knows. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Axel Amsterdam

[Aleitalyyy]

Christmas coconut enjoying the moon from the window

[Aleitalyyy]

today a little sun helps the new launch to climb...

[gurugu]

This coco, like yours, also grew in a house, actually in a beach restaurant (in Spain they are called "chiringuitos"), but it outgrew the room, the ceiling of the dining room better said. It is the same palmtree viewed from different angles.

I posted this paper picture in another thread some months ago. This coco was in "Las Caletillas" a small village near Candelaria, Tenerife. The picture was taken in the late 1980s, It was the tallest and oldest coconut I had seen in Tenerife, and probably the Canary Islands. The owner of the restaurant told me he had brought it from Spanish Guinea, in the late 1960s. It produced big fruits. Then, in the 1990s the whole area was refurbished and the coco was chopped down. A pity.

[Aleitalyyy]

what a beautiful story... gurugu i don't know if you know... but there's a coconut inside a big pot in the south of spain, maybe a little before malaga... and it's already been living outside for several years.

 

[gurugu]

44 minutes ago, Aleitalyyy said:

what a beautiful story... gurugu i don't know if you know... but there's a coconut inside a big pot in the south of spain, maybe a little before malaga... and it's already been living outside for several years.

 

The person you are talking about is  a woman who lives near Malaga capital city, in a town called Vélez Málaga. She managed to sprout a dehusked coco fruit bought in a grocery. That coconut palmtree has been growing for 11 years now and it is still alive. She said that she took it indoors in very cold nights. 

I wouldn't be surprised though if someone were growing one outdoors in the capital downtown area, which can be considered an 11A usda zone. 

[Aleitalyyy]

@gurugu https://foro.infojardin.com/threads/cocotero-en-malaga.114833/

I don't know if we're talking about the same person... here's the link

[gurugu]

1 hour ago, Aleitalyyy said:

@gurugu https://foro.infojardin.com/threads/cocotero-en-malaga.114833/

I don't know if we're talking about the same person... here's the link

Yes, we are

[Aleitalyyy]

that plant deserves a place in the ground close to a house .... it would be the first coconut that grows in the ground ... that plant is not treated, it has no anti parasitic washings, it has no organic and chemical fertilizer, and it has no anti-mold in the gem... I would know what to do, but unfortunately it's not mine and I don't live in malaga...

[gurugu]

47 minutes ago, Aleitalyyy said:

that plant deserves a place in the ground close to a house .... it would be the first coconut that grows in the ground ... that plant is not treated, it has no anti parasitic washings, it has no organic and chemical fertilizer, and it has no anti-mold in the gem... I would know what to do, but unfortunately it's not mine and I don't live in malaga...

I completely agree with you. 

If it were mine, and I lived in Málaga, I would have planted it in the ground on its second or third year after sprouting. 

And she has got place to do it! 

She has got the best, or the second best palm collection in Spain (except the Canary Islands). Even better than the botanical gardens in Cullera, La Concepción in Málaga itself or the municipal garden in Málaga, which is a proper botanical garden. Or those in Lisbon. I am always talking about outdoor gardens.