Tis a sad day for my coconut. (My baby)

[GottmitAlex]

Well, I woke up this morning to a sad sight:

The rodents which tried to make a nest in the base of my baby (my first coconut. 6 and a half years old) late last fall (autumn),  killed it. 

Fronds collapsed as if the beetle got the best of it.  But this wasn't the beetle. Rodents (I believe mice, coming from the neighbors yard)  munched on the side of the base of the palm. They didn't get to the heart of the palm but almost. 

5 months later, well, here are the pics.

I still have 3 coconuts left (one green Malayan dwarf and two pacific golden talls. One of which is still a baby).

One Alfie and a D. Plumosa.

 

You may ask yourselves: "why wasn't Alex aware? Why wasn't he on his toes with his coconuts?" 

I was bedridden for three months after falling 12 ft. From a 2nd story into concrete shattering both of my wrists. 

 

Here's the devastation and aftermath:

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

My condolences. Hope you are mending and are soon back on palm duty.

[GottmitAlex]

Thank you Meg.

 

[bubba]

Sorry to hear about both your fall and your coconut. You are a real trail blazer on the Cocos nucifera front. Thankfully you have several left. I know you encountered difficulties when your neighbor created more unfortunate issues.
 

To me, you have helped resolve the “ can coconuts grow in California/ low desert/ Arizona”. After years of the Salton Sea Coconut, the answer is a resounding yes and more folks out West will be locating that microclimate where Cocos nucifera culture can thrive.

[D. Morrowii]

Aw man that sucks. Sorry to hear it. What are you planning to put back? 

[James B]

Sorry to hear that Alex. My lone Cocos will be finished off this week. 7 nights in a row at or near freezing will be the final nail in the coffin. I’m crazy enough I may try again in spring.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

That sucks, growing a palm that was doing fine for over 5 years only to see it go like that. Sorry for your loss.

[Arecaceus]

Oh no! What a pity! Sorry for your loss. 😔 At least there is room for something new... Oh and I hope you recover quickly from that accident!

[kinzyjr]

Get well soon, @GottmitAlex!

[sonoranfans]

Sorry to hear of your fall and the palm alex.  Get well soon so you can plant another.  I also had a large 7 year old palm die(bizzie), its part of the hobby and it hurts to see that investment in time and care lost.  Take care of yourself.

[palmfriend]

Alex,

that is a sad story! Your Cocos nucifera thread is already a classic here.

I hope and I am sure you will get over it and start something new because nothing beats the excitement of watching a palm growing well, right...?!

I hope you get well soon!

 

Lars

 

 

[Kim]

Such painful photos and even more painful story behind them. I hope you will reach a full recovery soon, and best of luck with your remaining Cocos. 🌴🌴🌴

[Little Tex]

Justice must be served!, GET OUT THE POISON!

But In all seriousness, I know losing a palm sucks, Ive already lost like 2 sabals, a queen, a washingtonia, my veichtas, I can go on and on, but In doing so, I proved nothing. You however showed through your hard work, documentation and research that coconuts, despite what the critics will say CAN be grown in California (I know its technically baja but same difference). You have inspired me and surely others to really push zones beyond the stigma surrounding them, I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors in not just cocos, but all your plants. I will be praying you get a speedy recovery from your injuries🙏.

[BigFrond]

Most likely rats.  They are very destructive and yuge.  They are lumbering in my yard (size up to a medium cat).  They love to live in queen palms.  Sorry about your wrists.  Take care.

[GottmitAlex]

I did put out the poison, too much but too late. 

Six and a half years in the making.   I'll keep you all apprised on the surviving palms. 

 

Thank you all.

 

 

[EnriqueVega]

Ohh Man , I hope you recover from that accident.

Do not hesitate to plant an other one maybe you can try Carpoxylon if the cocos arre surviving then Carpoxylon might as well.

I actually started also playing with cocos in Sacramento so far after this winter, I have One dead, one toasted on the top but green on the bottom, and one small red spicata all green, and I started all that because of your posts keep it up.

[GottmitAlex]

They dug into the dead leaf bases and tried to make a nest there.

 

By the way, I'm recovering wonderfully. Come March I should be back to 95%. 

God willing.

 

Here again thank you.

 

[Cluster]

Hey Alex sorry to hear that:( I hope you recover soon. It is a shame your oldest was destroyed, are you going to protect the remaining from such pests, maybe put something around that they will not want to cross?

Try to get a Fiji Dwarf as a replacement, they are robust and won't take too much space

 

Hope you recover well!

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 2/20/2023 at 3:07 PM, GottmitAlex said:

Well, I woke up this morning to a sad sight:

The rodents which tried to make a nest in the base of my baby (my first coconut. 6 and a half years old) late last fall (autumn),  killed it. 

Fronds collapsed as if the beetle got the best of it.  But this wasn't the beetle. Rodents (I believe mice, coming from the neighbors yard)  munched on the side of the base of the palm. They didn't get to the heart of the palm but almost. 

5 months later, well, here are the pics.

I still have 3 coconuts left (one green Malayan dwarf and two pacific golden talls. One of which is still a baby).

One Alfie and a D. Plumosa.

 

You may ask yourselves: "why wasn't Alex aware? Why wasn't he on his toes with his coconuts?" 

I was bedridden for three months after falling 12 ft. From a 2nd story into concrete shattering both of my wrists. 

 

Here's the devastation and aftermath:

 

 

Sorry Alex, for you and your beautiful palm.  I hope you are fully recovered now.

John

[mnorell]

So sorry for your loss, I know that must hurt a lot, seeing how much trunk was on that nice coconut!

And I hate to be something of a contrarian, Alex...but please take this as food for thought...I had MANY rats, raccoons, iguanas, pretty much every critter you can imagine, in the Florida Keys living in and/or interacting with our coconut palms, and NEVER had any attempts by them to destroy the trees in any way. And we had scores of coconuts of all sizes and a number of cultivars. The rats did have an awesome way of getting into the fruit, however: they would chew a hole through the husk (smaller than their bodies, but enough that they could squeeze through, and they would eat all the endosperm/meat/water. It was really quite an admirable achievement. But they were not attracted to chewing on any other part of the plant other than the fruit. The fact is, an animal chewing on a portion of the basal trunk-area of a coconut is NOT going to kill the plant unless they sever all the roots (in which case the tree would fall over). To kill it, they would have to eat through the apical meristem far up the trunk. Since palm trunks are like an "ocean" of water/nutrients traveling through a highly dispersed network of fiber-bundles running from the roots to the crown, palms can take tremendous damage to their trunks and live to see many more days. What I might suggest from looking at your photos is that perhaps the soil got eroded from the base of your palm, the exposed roots could have rotted in the damp winter cold, and that, or something related such as a fungal attack, may have been what took down your palm...difficult for me to really see detail from the photos but is that possible? It is very important to stay on top of basal soil levels west of the continental divide, the dry air will stop any new roots from reaching the ground and the plant will suffer greatly over time. The many sources that say not to plant palms below soil level are worthless IMHO, I have never seen a palm harmed this way within reason, east or west of the "humid line." The ongoing carbon cycle and compaction, etc., will ultimately degrade and lower the soil level over time, so I always try to plant a little deeply to counteract that effect.

In any event, I implore you not to put out poison of any kind unless you have a solid diagnosis, rather than a hunch, even though you may feel somewhat sure in your supposition. It can kill or severely sicken innocent creatures (and their predators up the food chain such as owls), pets, children, etc. and thus humane trapping is probably the best solution if that turns out to be the cause of the problem.

All best in getting back up to speed after that horrible-sounding fall.