San Diego Coconut Trees

[SouthernCATropicals]

August 4 2025

 

Its very messy in this area right now but I’m building a little gate around it with a doorway. I took down the walls a while ago and the possums are having a blast in the new space 😵‍💫, but the mulch is impenetrable so I’m not worried.  

 

yellow trash can coconut

[Urban Rainforest]

Your efforts to grow Coconuts in SD seem to be paying off and looks like you are in a sweet microclimate! It can be done. I was the one responsible for planting the Del Mar Coconut. It survived without any issues for 20 years, had a 20” diameter base and fronds arching over the 2 story time share resort that I did the landscaping for. The co. I worked for lost the account due to a shady hoa commitee or it would still be alive! The mow blow go crew that  took over the property litterally trimmed it down to 2 fronds and a spear going into winter🤬 That was the kiss of death as they need as many fronds as possible to survive our winters. It was a heartbreaker to see yet it was a fun experiment to be a part of and I feel like I proved it can be done. I love seeing people push the botanical envelope! Well done👍
 

Steve

[Urban Rainforest]

[Urban Rainforest]

A pic when it was much younger. These are the only 2 pics I still have of it.

[SouthernCATropicals]

That’s so great to hear from you, thank you! 
 

9 hours ago, Urban Rainforest said:

The mow blow go crew that  took over the property litterally trimmed it down to 2 fronds and a spear going into winter🤬 That was the kiss of death as they need as many fronds as possible to survive our winters. It was a heartbreaker to see yet it was a fun experiment to be a part of and I feel like I proved it can be done.

Noooo I actually wasn’t aware it has died! That’s awful especially after soo long😵. They thought they could butcher it like a Queen or king palm wow tragic. I wish I had visited it earlier now.
 

The Del Mar coconut really inspired me as between all the other coconut that one was not only the biggest but the most relatable climate for where I’m at. It’s hard to tell but the back areas where I have them is like 5 degree hotter than everywhere else around it, it’s right up against an concrete alley and big buildings that don’t allow wind.  
 

I hope to keep the coconuts going just as long!

[Urban Rainforest]

Yeah Im pretty sure nobody on that crew had any idea that it was a coconut. I mean its not like you see them very often in landscapes around town. I bought it back in the day from home depot and they had them on a regular basis! I think the reason they quit carrying them is if you keep your receipt you can litterally bring in a dead plant within one year for a full refund... and im sure many did. While I believe many here on palmtalk could grow a coconut in so cal providing they have the right microclimate the average weekend warrior homeowner probably could NOT pull it off. For those reasons I believe home depot and other big box stores quit carrying them. Its to bad they dont sell big boxed sized Coconuts here as I believe people would have more success! Anyhows I believe you are on the right track with yours and I commend you for trying something that very few people do try here! I hope your palms produce their own Coconuts in the future🤙
Steve

[SouthernCATropicals]

2 hours ago, Urban Rainforest said:

Yeah Im pretty sure nobody on that crew had any idea that it was a coconut. I mean its not like you see them very often in landscapes around town.

Oh for sure, I stare at coconut palms all day and kentia palms sometimes make me do a double take still. And the king palm fronds to me look almost identical to coconuts. 
 

2 hours ago, Urban Rainforest said:

While I believe many here on palmtalk could grow a coconut in so cal providing they have the right microclimate the average weekend warrior homeowner probably could NOT pull it off.

Absolutely, they are really difficult and it’s hard to even articulate what makes them difficult bc they aren’t particularly sensitive to anything day to day (in a frost free area) . Coconuts seem to communicate their health/happiness over month periods rather than day to day. 
 

I actually only ended up on this forum and with these coconuts because I’m really into tropical fruit trees and assumed they would be easy haah.  So all to say I’m very interested in getting the first coastal coconut fruits. 

[DesertOasis]

On 12/18/2023 at 10:26 PM, iDesign said:

Hopefully a long thread with lots of photos. 🌴🤞

My young Areca vestarias - another plant that “doesn’t grow here” and are currently hiding in the house- say hello. 👋

Not sure what compels us to zone push… but it’s pretty fun when someone manages to defy the odds. 

I love the idea of zone pushing and currently keep a triple bottle palm under my gazebo. It has happily acclimated to its new environment in the high desert of San Bernardino County( I think it loves the heat). I was super surprised to see so many new spears being pushed since moving it in almost two months ago.

[SouthernCATropicals]

August 24, 2025

I read this has been the coolest summer in a few decades here and I agree I only have used the AC 2 times. The real heat started a couple days ago however so it has been 85f plus. 
 

The bigger it gets the more I have to backup and the smaller it looks but trust me it’s very large, it towers over me. Also remember a year ago I talked about it potentially reaching the power lines? 😂 it is just below touching them now. 
 

 

This one has a really bad spider mite infestation, I don’t want to poison the soil by spraying too much and I hose it down every single day and squish what I can see. Squishing them makes me fingers look like I just ate hot Cheetos 

[rockinrickyfox]

On 8/24/2025 at 3:40 PM, SouthernCATropicals said:

August 24, 2025

I read this has been the coolest summer in a few decades here and I agree I only have used the AC 2 times. The real heat started a couple days ago however so it has been 85f plus. 
 

The bigger it gets the more I have to backup and the smaller it looks but trust me it’s very large, it towers over me. Also remember a year ago I talked about it potentially reaching the power lines? 😂 it is just below touching them now. 
 

 

This one has a really bad spider mite infestation, I don’t want to poison the soil by spraying too much and I hose it down every single day and squish what I can see. Squishing them makes me fingers look like I just ate hot Cheetos 

 

beautiful, i really  wanna try the same further inland in rialto. i wonder if i can get a few established. it would be a dream to get fruit from one. which is maybe not impossible.... our temps reach high enough to get flowers and young fruit but could they hold during winter to eventually mature? possibly? but unlikely without protection maybe? 🤔

i brought a Malayan dwarf as a sprouted nut, in theory i live in a better location than yours farther inland that gets hotter during the summer and is drier during the winter so not as many chilly wet days that coconuts don't like.  

i am also trying to start a few market coconuts but so far they have all rotted. i seems like they don't like being watered nor buried in mulch or dirt. im trying again after soaking im just gonna leave the nuts on the ground on the surface with plenty of airflow and let them do their thing as they would in nature. perhaps this might work?

this fascinating topic has been two years in the making! and they say you can't grow them by the coast. i guess maybe san Diego is far south enough to work.  great work.

[SouthernCATropicals]

I really appreciate it, thank you!

12 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

beautiful, i really  wanna try the same further inland in rialto. i wonder if i can get a few established. it would be a dream to get fruit from one. which is maybe not impossible.... our temps reach high enough to get flowers and young fruit but could they hold during winter to eventually mature? possibly? but unlikely without protection maybe? 🤔

I would definitely try it out in your location!
 

There are many coconuts in the more inland climate and they probably would love the high heat. My coconuts from Florida don’t like dips below 50f and typically show damage at that point so that might be a maypan issue or all coconut issue I’m not sure. Depending on proximity to the ocean these dips are extremely infrequent or relatively frequent. Maybe they adapt I haven’t been doing this long enough to find out. Also I haven’t tested it out, but the consensus seems to be that coconuts from Hawaii seem to be able to take temps below 50f more readily. 

One thought I have had recently is that people focus so much on temperatures with coconuts but atleast 2 of my coconuts started growing relatively rapidly as February started as the days started to become longer even though it was the colder part of the year so the length of days/ latitude seems to be important to their winter tolerance as well. 
 

I have never germinated successfully a coconut myself but one time I saw a coconut for sale that was actually sprouted at a Vietnamese market so they might be more viable than like a vons coconut.
 

Also all coconuts I have had had their own traits and growth rate and most are duds, maybe that just speaks to the genetic diversity in the coconuts in Florida haha. I have had two very brightly yellow colored coconuts, and they show some damage virtually all year except summer so I think temps below 68 as a nighttime low is their limit haha, they don’t die or anything but they don’t keep the perfect older fronds below like that high 60’sf

[SouthernCATropicals]

12 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

 to get flowers and young fruit but could they hold during winter to eventually mature? possibly? but unlikely without protection maybe? 

And I’m not sure about flowering and fruiting, that is my ultimate goal but that is probably a few years away haha I’m a fruit tree person that came to palmtalk to see how I’m going to get those homegrown coconut. I haven’t researched anything about coconut flowers/ pollination /and keeping the fruits to maturity but I will for sure get into that in the years to come. 
 

I think there was coconut palms that fruited in Palm Springs which is relatively near you so I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to as well. 

[rockinrickyfox]

4 hours ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

I really appreciate it, thank you!

I would definitely try it out in your location!
 

There are many coconuts in the more inland climate and they probably would love the high heat. My coconuts from Florida don’t like dips below 50f and typically show damage at that point so that might be a maypan issue or all coconut issue I’m not sure. Depending on proximity to the ocean these dips are extremely infrequent or relatively frequent. Maybe they adapt I haven’t been doing this long enough to find out. Also I haven’t tested it out, but the consensus seems to be that coconuts from Hawaii seem to be able to take temps below 50f more readily. 

One thought I have had recently is that people focus so much on temperatures with coconuts but atleast 2 of my coconuts started growing relatively rapidly as February started as the days started to become longer even though it was the colder part of the year so the length of days/ latitude seems to be important to their winter tolerance as well. 
 

I have never germinated successfully a coconut myself but one time I saw a coconut for sale that was actually sprouted at a Vietnamese market so they might be more viable than like a vons coconut.
 

Also all coconuts I have had had their own traits and growth rate and most are duds, maybe that just speaks to the genetic diversity in the coconuts in Florida haha. I have had two very brightly yellow colored coconuts, and they show some damage virtually all year except summer so I think temps below 68 as a nighttime low is their limit haha, they don’t die or anything but they don’t keep the perfect older fronds below like that high 60’sf

I just took a look right now saw a bulge on an eye and scratched the papery shell off and lookie that! A sprout poking out! Just barely got it three days ago it has been sitting under a fruit tree in the full sun and heat for only two days. The first day was a soak. 
 

I wonder what kind they are possibly Mexican type? They had a little wraparound sticker all it says is “Bella” I looked it up online and can’t find anything. I hear the Mexican type is pretty hardy like the Hawaiian ones. 
 

I guess we will find out together what the limits of these plants are. If they will produce anything or not when they eventually mature. 
 

who knows perhaps zone pushers like us will eventually inspire somebody to plant a coconut plantation here in California lol. 
 

anyways this it proof that the bagie method people use is not needed even for coconuts without a hull they can germinate perfectly fine. One of the nuts I mentioned in my previous post that rotted did germinate aswell actually but it succumbed to being buried in mulch and rotted out. They are simply too delicate without a hull to be planted in moisture it seems, probably only possible to bury after the palm sends out its first roots from the nut. 
 

I put this fella back under his companion hopefully he keeps developing healthy. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

1 hour ago, rockinrickyfox said:

 

Amazing, I wouldn’t have expected that at all congratulations! My understanding is unless you got it from an Asian market it is presumably from Mexico. Even at that stage the roots look the same, they never stop looking like that like a chalk stick haha. 
 

It is entirely up to you but I would keep it in a good size pot so that it can be moved around strategically this winter then planted in the spring. It’s much harder to kill a coconut the larger it and its root system gets from what I’ve seen. 

[rockinrickyfox]

9 minutes ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

Amazing, I wouldn’t have expected that at all congratulations! My understanding is unless you got it from an Asian market it is presumably from Mexico. Even at that stage the roots look the same, they never stop looking like that like a chalk stick haha. 
 

It is entirely up to you but I would keep it in a good size pot so that it can be moved around strategically this winter then planted in the spring. It’s much harder to kill a coconut the larger it and its root system gets from what I’ve seen. 

yeah, i'd have to think about it but i dunno what to do really, im a total newbie. i heard some other folks say its better to just plant them as the quicker they establish in their locale the better they will resist the stress of winter. but maybe its too late to establish to be hardy? i was thinking about putting them in a pot aswell to move them around during those rare occational 30s nights and the rainy chilly days. i might just do that! 

[SouthernCATropicals]

2 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

yeah, i'd have to think about it but i dunno what to do really, im a total newbie. 

In my opinion it is too late in fact I depending on how vigorous it turns out to be I might even wait until the following spring knowing what I know now. If the coconut starts to become root bound in its pot, it’ll definitely let you know by shooting out the bottom holes.
 

I’d love to see updates as you progress!

[rockinrickyfox]

2 hours ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

In my opinion it is too late in fact I depending on how vigorous it turns out to be I might even wait until the following spring knowing what I know now. If the coconut starts to become root bound in its pot, it’ll definitely let you know by shooting out the bottom holes.
 

I’d love to see updates as you progress!

yeah you're probably right. i think i will plant it in a pot once the sprout is a bit bigger. its twin hasnt sprouted yet but i think i'll do the same. i might get another one to experiment and see if it works out just planted in the ground. the malayan dwarf hasnt arrived yet but its supposed to be a decently mature sprouted nut with leaves and roots you figure i do the same aswell or just plant it in the ground?  I'll be glad to show pictures as things move along. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

1 hour ago, rockinrickyfox said:

you figure i do the same aswell or just plant it in the ground?

I would do the same with that sprouted coconut with some roots as well. I would only plant a coconut in spring when it has such a good root system that it was bursting out the pot.

If it’s in a pot it can’t get waterlogged or flooded  or fully shaded when it is winter solstice. It seems like you’ll have quite a few so maybe try some different things. 

[rockinrickyfox]

update the Malayan arrived! Right now during summer he is sitting in his future home area by some fruit trees. 

I have his winter home cased out already, it’s an area on the south side of the house where the sun rises gets all the sun of the day except for the setting hours. should be a good warm spot for it to sit during the most of the days of the winter and then move it under the porch when the rain comes. And move it back etc. 

then I will plant it in the spring once I see the temps go up. 

right now the temps are real hot I expect to see decent growth for the last bit of the warm season until late october probably.

[kylecawazafla]

1 hour ago, rockinrickyfox said:

update the Malayan arrived! Right now during summer he is sitting in his future home area by some fruit trees. 

I have his winter home cased out already, it’s an area on the south side of the house where the sun rises gets all the sun of the day except for the setting hours. should be a good warm spot for it to sit during the most of the days of the winter and then move it under the porch when the rain comes. And move it back etc. 

then I will plant it in the spring once I see the temps go up. 

right now the temps are real hot I expect to see decent growth for the last bit of the warm season until late october probably.

I'd highly recommend trying a Hawaiian Pacific Tall variety in California. I have been experimenting with coconut palms in El Centro, CA and Palm Springs, CA, and Malay Dwarfs have significantly less cold hardiness. Sadly, I do not live in either of these locations and the water routinely gets cut off when I am out of town in the summer, so they invariably dry out, but I have only lost them to drying out, and never to cold. If you are looking for a source, I would recommend kanoahawaii.com as they ship to California. They also handled full sun as seedlings here in the desert! 

[SouthernCATropicals]

2 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

right now the temps are real hot I expect to see decent growth for the last bit of the warm season until late october probably.

Sounds like a great plan and it looks good. I remember things slow down around November until like February or so 

[rockinrickyfox]

42 minutes ago, kylecawazafla said:

I'd highly recommend trying a Hawaiian Pacific Tall variety in California. I have been experimenting with coconut palms in El Centro, CA and Palm Springs, CA, and Malay Dwarfs have significantly less cold hardiness. Sadly, I do not live in either of these locations and the water routinely gets cut off when I am out of town in the summer, so they invariably dry out, but I have only lost them to drying out, and never to cold. If you are looking for a source, I would recommend kanoahawaii.com as they ship to California. They also handled full sun as seedlings here in the desert! 

certainly, a good idea to try several genetically distinct landraces. but 94 bucks for one nut! wow. i dunno how you feel about places like etsy and ebay but only paid like 40 bucks free shipping for the dwarf. this other seller i can get two panama tall nuts for 53 bucks including shipping price. despite the price i would certainly consider it though. i've heard pretty much all the cocos growing in the state come from hawaii literally just folks bringing em and not even really trying or knowing how to care for coconuts and yet they survive haha. they seem to be very tough. if i get one from there i would wait until the spring just to make sure. thanks for the recommendation as everybody else i've seen that ships from hawaii doesn't ship em here probably because of certificates.

8 minutes ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

Sounds like a great plan and it looks good. I remember things slow down around November until like February or so 

mostly going off weather channel's last year's numbers but i suppose in reality its much different with plant hormones and all that. last year we had straight 100s for the first two weeks of november up to 108. so who knows what this year will bring! 

[SouthernCATropicals]

September 6, 2025

The oldest fronds are coming off and revealing some trunk at about it’s 2 year birthday 🙂 also I put a little lemon guava in there, it fruits so profusely that it doesn’t grow much and will stay low, hopefully similarly to the jackfruits once they’re old enough to fruit 

 

This one

yellow one 

[rockinrickyfox]

On 9/6/2025 at 8:41 PM, SouthernCATropicals said:

September 6, 2025

The oldest fronds are coming off and revealing some trunk at about it’s 2 year birthday 🙂 also I put a little lemon guava in there, it fruits so profusely that it doesn’t grow much and will stay low, hopefully similarly to the jackfruits once they’re old enough to fruit 

 

This one

yellow one 

Looking great! with a small trunk forming they should be able to take more cold even if its just a few more degrees. im sure theyll go through winter like a breeze with limited stress.

im curious about the one in the bucket though. is the yellowing on the leaves sun burn? or did you forget to water it a few times? i forget too sometimes haha. with better practices my plants last longer. now though. planting alot in half moons and circles water soaks in instead of simply washing out. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

18 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

im curious about the one in the bucket though. is the yellowing on the leaves sun burn? or did you forget to water it a few times? i forget too sometimes haha. with better practices my plants last longer. now though. planting alot in half moons and circles water soaks in instead of simply washing out. 

It definitely doesn’t get hot enough to burn a coconut here and humidity is very high here day and night and I water twice a day for my potted plants. Although I could be over fertilizing 
 

I think it just might just be a particularity of yellow coconuts that they leaf cycle much faster / more dramatically than the others. I remember this was the case with a yellow coconut I gave away last summer as well. The newer leaves have no imperfections it’s just hard to show them because it’s getting taller. I imagine as the weather became very optimal for them they wanted to drop the older leafs and put all the energy into newer leafs. 

[rockinrickyfox]

1 hour ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

It definitely doesn’t get hot enough to burn a coconut here and humidity is very high here day and night and I water twice a day for my potted plants. Although I could be over fertilizing 
 

I think it just might just be a particularity of yellow coconuts that they leaf cycle much faster / more dramatically than the others. I remember this was the case with a yellow coconut I gave away last summer as well. The newer leaves have no imperfections it’s just hard to show them because it’s getting taller. I imagine as the weather became very optimal for them they wanted to drop the older leafs and put all the energy into newer leafs. 

oh, i see that makes sense, you did say that you noticed the yellow ones and red ones grow faster than green types earlier in the discussion i guess a consequence of that heightened metabolism is also that their leaves age much faster. i bet if you planted that sucker in the ground he would take off real fast! probably out grow the bigger coconut within a year or two.

[JohnAndSancho]

Y'all are making me wanna buy one of the $20 Etsy specials. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

1 hour ago, rockinrickyfox said:

i bet if you planted that sucker in the ground he would take off real fast! probably out grow the bigger coconut within a year or two.

In terms of south facing areas im totally out of space so this one will just have to live in a pot, although it is in a pretty big pot haha

[JohnAndSancho]

I've got a trash can and I've got a mountain of grow bags and there's a huge pile of white sand down the road. Please don't make me try a Mississippi coconut. It will not end well lol 

[SouthernCATropicals]

10 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I've got a trash can and I've got a mountain of grow bags and there's a huge pile of white sand down the road. Please don't make me try a Mississippi coconut. It will not end well lol 

Would you be able to bring it indoors? You can see based on how fast they grow that moving them can be challenging and will burst out of a greenhouse really fast. There’s someone in Houston with a coconut that he protects from that regions events 

[JohnAndSancho]

31 minutes ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

Would you be able to bring it indoors? You can see based on how fast they grow that moving them can be challenging and will burst out of a greenhouse really fast. There’s someone in Houston with a coconut that he protects from that regions events 

I think @ZPalms had one in Virginia in a trashcan that he brought in. And I know @Philly J has one in like super north zone 2 Canada but he has to basically keep a bag over his with a humidifier inside for 10 months out of the year. But yeah I have indoor space. That might be my ballsiest adventure yet. Let me get bananas going first and see how that goes and we'll circle back to this in the spring when I'll have more stuff to sell to fund this insane idea. 

 

Bro this house is literally built in the middle of old farm land cleared out of a forest. Coconuts and bananas have no business here 😂 

[rockinrickyfox]

30 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I think @ZPalms had one in Virginia in a trashcan that he brought in. And I know @Philly J has one in like super north zone 2 Canada but he has to basically keep a bag over his with a humidifier inside for 10 months out of the year. But yeah I have indoor space. That might be my ballsiest adventure yet. Let me get bananas going first and see how that goes and we'll circle back to this in the spring when I'll have more stuff to sell to fund this insane idea. 

 

Bro this house is literally built in the middle of old farm land cleared out of a forest. Coconuts and bananas have no business here 😂 

i wonder if you could build a green house and just plant dwarf coconuts and cut them down when they get too big and plant the coconuts you get from them to replace them. BOOM infinite coconuts 🤯

probably need alot of money for that though. just a dream...

[JohnAndSancho]

5 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

i wonder if you could build a green house and just plant dwarf coconuts and cut them down when they get too big and plant the coconuts you get from them to replace them. BOOM infinite coconuts 🤯

probably need alot of money for that though. just a dream...

Yeah I'm not that obsessed lol. 

[rockinrickyfox]

5 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Yeah I'm not that obsessed lol. 

haha yeah, just one of those outlandish ideas. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

September 16, 2025

 

I weeded and cleaned up the base of this one and it has some trunk as well. 

 

I tried taking better pics of this one. 

[rockinrickyfox]

14 minutes ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

September 16, 2025

 

I weeded and cleaned up the base of this one and it has some trunk as well. 

 

I tried taking better pics of this one. 

looking great as always, can't wait until you post the 6th year update where you harvest your first coconut! 😀

[SouthernCATropicals]

20 minutes ago, rockinrickyfox said:

looking great as always, can't wait until you post the 6th year update where you harvest your first coconut! 😀

haha thank you!

[JohnAndSancho]

I don't suppose anybody could ID these tiny little guys? Is it worth trying even for $4? Lol can I shave it with my beard trimmer? I've read people water coconuts with salt water - there's zero chance I would ever get that mix right. Anyway here's some 4 dollar refrigerated grocery store coconuts in Dump Truck County, Mississippi. 

[rockinrickyfox]

On 9/16/2025 at 8:02 PM, SouthernCATropicals said:

haha thank you!

My sprout is getting some browning on the tips, any idea what it could be? Have you gotten this problem before? 

[rockinrickyfox]

On 9/17/2025 at 10:56 AM, JohnAndSancho said:

I don't suppose anybody could ID these tiny little guys? Is it worth trying even for $4? Lol can I shave it with my beard trimmer? I've read people water coconuts with salt water - there's zero chance I would ever get that mix right. Anyway here's some 4 dollar refrigerated grocery store coconuts in Dump Truck County, Mississippi. 

refrigerated? not sure they would sprout. the ones where i live are never refrigerated. its all just sitting in the open.

 they look pretty big. i would say they're probably talls.  if its a tall then its probably mexican tall or panama tall which are cold hardy. 

if you hear water inside and they float it could be fair game just not sure how refrigerated ones would fair considering coconuts aren't supposed to survive winters that are constantly refrigeration temps. i would try if its all you got around though.