Coconut palms grown in shade

[Plantking165]

How much shade do cocos tolerate I have 3 and my only place to put them is in a shaded area that gets very very little sun at all. Does anyone have any pics of coconuts grown in shade will they still develop well? Or become thin and stretched

[redant]

1 hour ago, Plantking165 said:

How much shade do cocos tolerate I have 3 and my only place to put them is in a shaded area that gets very very little sun at all. Does anyone have any pics of coconuts grown in shade will they still develop well? Or become thin and stretched

They do very well in shade

[Plantking165]

4 minutes ago, redant said:

They do very well in shade

Like full shade they will still grow really well?

[PalmatierMeg]

They may survive in shade but they prefer full sun and high heat.

[Plantking165]

4 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

They may survive in shade but they prefer full sun and high heat.

How do they develop in shade?

[PalmatierMeg]

I can’t say definitively because I have never and will never plant a coconut palm in shade. Canopy in FL is too precious to waste on a palm that cries for full sun. But I will speculate that:

1. Growth will be slower because of lack of sun. Coconuts are super fast in ideal conditions.

2. Maybe there will be some etiolation or stretching out

3. The palm may not look as full and healthy because of reduced light

4. As the palm grows it may lean, curve or reach toward a source of stronger light

On another note, a coconut growing in shade may have more protection from frost and cold winds in an arctic front because of overhead canopy. Does that possibility negate the benefits of full sun? Uh, no.

[Plantking165]

25 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I can’t say definitively because I have never and will never plant a coconut palm in shade. Canopy in FL is too precious to waste on a palm that cries for full sun. But I will speculate that:

1. Growth will be slower because of lack of sun. Coconuts are super fast in ideal conditions.

2. Maybe there will be some etiolation or stretching out

3. The palm may not look as full and healthy because of reduced light

4. As the palm grows it may lean, curve or reach toward a source of stronger light

On another note, a coconut growing in shade may have more protection from frost and cold winds in an arctic front because of overhead canopy. Does that possibility negate the benefits of full sun? Uh, no.

Well I've got 2 Jamaican talls and a Panama tall I'm gonna plant there its my only place to put them, I can try and get the oak trimmed to let in more light, ill have to see what I can do, I'd put them in full sun if I could

[redant]

Here are 4 that have been grown in deep shade since they were just sprouts.

[Plantking165]

6 minutes ago, redant said:

Here are 4 that have been grown in deep shade since they were just sprouts.

Those look pretty good for being in shade this is the area I'm gonna put my 3. It gets soo little light even dappled light seems to be little so hopefully they turn out well and eventually produce fruit, here are the 3 I have currently growing in pots probably gonna continue growing in pots in full sun for the first year

[redant]

1 minute ago, Plantking165 said:

Those look pretty good for being in shade this is the area I'm gonna put my 3. It gets soo little light even dappled light seems to be little so hopefully they turn out well and eventually produce fruit, here are the 3 I have currently growing in pots probably gonna continue growing in pots in full sun for the first year

They would be perfectly happy there.

[Plantking165]

Just now, redant said:

They would be perfectly happy there.

I hope so, ima remove those trees and put them there but thats not what's blocked the light its the big oak over the area

[redant]

1 minute ago, Plantking165 said:

I hope so, ima remove those trees and put them there but thats not what's blocked the light its the big oak over the area

In Lake wales u want to plant under the oak, frost protection and a better micro climate,  Your biggest issue is not light, it's being in Lake Wales

[Plantking165]

4 minutes ago, redant said:

In Lake wales u want to plant under the oak, frost protection and a better micro climate,  Your biggest issue is not light, it's being in Lake Wales

Yeah 9b isn't quite ideal for them my fiji dwarf and red spicata came through this winter ok in the ground the spicata is in an area where it gets shade and a few hours of sun a day it does well its partly under the oak the fiji is in full sun no protection here is how they look now I just layed down that pine straw a few days ago I still gotta lay it around the fiji dwarf 

[mnorell]

35 minutes ago, Plantking165 said:

Yeah 9b isn't quite ideal for them my fiji dwarf and red spicata came through this winter ok in the ground the spicata is in an area where it gets shade and a few hours of sun a day it does well its partly under the oak the fiji is in full sun no protection here is how they look now I just layed down that pine straw a few days ago I still gotta lay it around the fiji dwarf 

 

 

Good that you put your Fiji Dwarf in full sun...I learned from personal experience in the Keys, they languish in shade. They are a very slow-growing cultivar, so it is quite useless if you want them to develop into anything. After Irma's wrath destroyed the forest that had grown up over my Fiji Dwarf (it survived), it was suddenly in full sun and 'rocketed' (that's very relative for this stubby, slow thing) to finally get a short trunk and even produce a few fruit last year, after 11-12 years in the ground. 

In general, though, it is my own personal experience in the Keys that Cocos wants to sprout and initially develop in moist, dappled/shifting shade, but where it can grow up into the sun rather quickly. To me, those growing in full shade look somewhat miserable when you compare them with the glorious things they become in full tropical sun. And looking at the photos in shade above, I suddenly see the strong association with Lytocaryum.