Coconut attempt in Rialto california

[rockinrickyfox]

Here is my attempt at growing coconuts in inland California zone 10a

He’s a green Malayan dwarf. 
Planted him about a week ago, it arrived with a small fat root on his butt. he already anchored himself in the second he felt soil, no movement when I move the pot very firm. 

It arrived a bit white and the seller said to put it in the shade, But hell I just stuck it in the full blazing sun and he took two 100+ days already without damage and the white has turned into a healthy green.

I will plant him in the ground once the winter passes.

And he’ll get a few new friends in February. And those will be direct sowed into the ground instead.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Looks like you've got a winner 🏆 Best of luck with it.

[rockinrickyfox]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

Looks like you've got a winner 🏆 Best of luck with it.

thank you SouthernCATropicals inspired me to try. if he can do it in san diego then i can probably take a good crack at it too! 

and yes it's certainly got fighting genes. honestly got surprised he liked it because even some cacti i have would get burned from such a move. seems to have grown a tiny bit already since arriving, i assume they grow super fast at the start from eating the nut. i hope to make many more updates in the future. 🙂

[JohnAndSancho]

@ZPalms had one for a little bit and @Philly J has one in Canada. Sure, it lives inside a bag with a humidifier for 10 months but he has a coconut palm in like I think zone 2. He's just south of Santa's village. 

[DoomsDave]

You GO @rockinrickyfox!

Orthodoxy says you can’t but there’s a coconut in Corona also part of the IE.

[rockinrickyfox]

36 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

You GO @rockinrickyfox!

Orthodoxy says you can’t but there’s a coconut in Corona also part of the IE.

i've read alot of posts of folks who don't believe. but im sure that socal has more coconut country than most people think.  i dunno if there will ever be coconut plantations here like they do coffee haha. but atleast land scaping use for sure, problem is folks think the whole state is the same climate whole state is mild in the summer like the coast with foggy overcast coconut killing winters. but winter where i live is pretty darn sunny except for the rain days. and summer is hot. i used to live in Coachella valley and the climate is similar. milder hot temps during spring and winter for sure and way less 100+ days during the summer and fall. but still pretty similar. i do miss the smell of creosote and desert soil during monsoons though.  

[JohnAndSancho]

Y'all make me want to buy one and then I look at Philly's when he has to overwinter it and the thing literally has to sit in a bag with a humidifier for like 10 months... It doesn't get THAT cold here, but I just can't do that level of commitment. 

 

I'm gonna just keep growing what I grow best - tall grass and feral cats. 

[rockinrickyfox]

21 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Y'all make me want to buy one and then I look at Philly's when he has to overwinter it and the thing literally has to sit in a bag with a humidifier for like 10 months... It doesn't get THAT cold here, but I just can't do that level of commitment. 

 

I'm gonna just keep growing what I grow best - tall grass and feral cats. 

at least you can still grow coconut relatives out there can't you? i hear they grow alot of butia/jelly palm down south. its not totally the same i suppose but heck you can still crack the seeds open and eat the coconut flesh inside. 

talking about that i cracked open some queen palm fruits the other day and the taste was really good! i was surprised. its just a coconut but way smaller. it had a really fatty coconut taste damn i wish somebody bred peach sized queen palm fruits because the tiny amount of kernel inside was not worth the effort. 

[JohnAndSancho]

20 minutes ago, rockinrickyfox said:

at least you can still grow coconut relatives out there can't you? i hear they grow alot of butia/jelly palm down south. its not totally the same i suppose but heck you can still crack the seeds open and eat the coconut flesh inside. 

talking about that i cracked open some queen palm fruits the other day and the taste was really good! i was surprised. its just a coconut but way smaller. it had a really fatty coconut taste damn i wish somebody bred peach sized queen palm fruits because the tiny amount of kernel inside was not worth the effort. 

Yeah dude! I just got 2 Butia babies, and I've got one of Patrick Schafer's hybrids - Butia x Lytocaryum Weddelanium. This thing got left outside in a pot on a 9° cold snap and it's recovering. I'm fixing to germinate a bunch of seeds too, I'm going to experiment with some of them and see if filing them down speeds the germination up. Never had a chance to try the fruit though. I'm gonna give this monster one more winter in the pot and then put it somewhere prominent. It's earned it. 

[rockinrickyfox]

1 minute ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Yeah dude! I just got 2 Butia babies, and I've got one of Patrick Schafer's hybrids - Butia x Lytocaryum Weddelanium. This thing got left outside in a pot on a 9° cold snap and it's recovering. I'm fixing to germinate a bunch of seeds too, I'm going to experiment with some of them and see if filing them down speeds the germination up. Never had a chance to try the fruit though. I'm gonna give this monster one more year in the pot and then put it somewhere prominent. It's earned it. 

great to hear! im getting ready to grow my own aswell. ordered some seeds. i hear they like temperature swings as seeds, like when the days are hot and nights cool. its gonna be like that soon. so hopefully i get good germination. 

i also ordered some jubaea and parajubaea seeds and i heard they are just as troublesome. never tried them before. i heard they like temperature swings too. and being soaked for several days before planting. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 minutes ago, rockinrickyfox said:

great to hear! im getting ready to grow my own aswell. ordered some seeds. i hear they like temperature swings as seeds, like when the days are hot and nights cool. its gonna be like that soon. so hopefully i get good germination. 

i also ordered some jubaea and parajubaea seeds and i heard they are just as troublesome. never tried them before. i heard they like temperature swings too. and being soaked for several days before planting. 

I soak and clean EVERYTHING. I started soaking them on the heat mat, we'll see if that helps. Canna sprouted literally overnight in the water. And I always add peroxide to the water and change it daily.

My heat mats are getting a little crowded so I might just take an old Styrofoam box and poke a bunch of holes in it and wrap it in a black trash bag and stick them in the sun. Or, I could line the box with some mylar and cover it with a screen and some bricks to keep the damn cats out of it. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

3 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

You GO @rockinrickyfox!

Orthodoxy says you can’t but there’s a coconut in Corona also part of the IE.

Dave, unfortunately some fool decided to cut down the one in Corona. It was becoming fantastic too. They must have decided it was too close to the house.  

[Jim in Los Altos]

2 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

at least you can still grow coconut relatives out there can't you? i hear they grow alot of butia/jelly palm down south. its not totally the same i suppose but heck you can still crack the seeds open and eat the coconut flesh inside. 

talking about that i cracked open some queen palm fruits the other day and the taste was really good! i was surprised. its just a coconut but way smaller. it had a really fatty coconut taste damn i wish somebody bred peach sized queen palm fruits because the tiny amount of kernel inside was not worth the effort. 

One of my more robust queens produces fruits as big as small apricots occasionally. Squirrels usually get them however. 
 

[rockinrickyfox]

7 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

One of my more robust queens produces fruits as big as small apricots occasionally. Squirrels usually get them however. 
 

wow pretty big for a queen palm. they look like Butia fruits. 

[DoomsDave]

5 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Dave, unfortunately some fool decided to cut down the one in Corona. It was becoming fantastic too. They must have decided it was too close to the house.  

Ouch!

How'd you find out about that?

[Las Palmas Norte]

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Dave, unfortunately some fool decided to cut down the one in Corona. It was becoming fantastic too. They must have decided it was too close to the house.  

There's no IQ testing requirements for chainsaw ownership. 😬

[rockinrickyfox]

Atleast we still have the one in santa ana, who knows how long. it seems like whenever a new homeowner comes in first thing they do is kill the coconut. i dunno why people hate palms so much! there was another one that got cut down by a new owner in the desert. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

7 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Ouch!

How'd you find out about that?

Dave, Someone on Facebook, about a year ago, posted a Google Street View photo of the address with the coconut and all that was left of it was a near ground level stump. I don’t know if it made me madder or sadder at the time. That coconut was getting pretty massive. 

[DoomsDave]

1 minute ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Dave, Someone on Facebook, about a year ago, posted a Google Street View photo of the address with the coconut and all that was left of it was a near ground level stump. I don’t know if it made me madder or sadder at the time. That coconut was getting pretty massive. 

It was getting big, I do remember and, sadly, I could see why someone might not appreciate it like we do.

[SouthernCATropicals]

13 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Dave, unfortunately some fool decided to cut down the one in Corona. It was becoming fantastic too. They must have decided it was too close to the house.  

Nooo, it seems like they’re all getting chopped down 😵 housing turnover seems to be a huge obstacle

[rockinrickyfox]

I’m soaking some more nuts from food for less, I’m guessing they’re Mexican? Already germinated a few before so i know they are viable however the first few rotted in the ground so I learned planting them before the roots is a no no for a husked store coconut.
 

And the last few I tried I didn’t plant just left them on the ground but the insects ate the tender emerging sprouts and dug into the nut through the eye so this time I learned leaving them outside sitting on the ground is also no go.
 

I’m gonna try to leave them in a shallow tray of water inside like some other folks have done hopefully that works much better.

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, rockinrickyfox said:

I’m soaking some more nuts from food for less, I’m guessing they’re Mexican? Already germinated a few before so i know they are viable however the first few rotted in the ground so I learned planting them before the roots is a no no for a husked store coconut.
 

And the last few I tried I didn’t plant just left them on the ground but the insects ate the tender emerging sprouts and dug into the nut through the eye so this time I learned leaving them outside sitting on the ground is also no go.
 

I’m gonna try to leave them in a shallow tray of water inside like some other folks have done hopefully that works much better.

My interest is piqued. They're $4 and change at the local grocery store. I know nothing about their origins or species or anything, I just checked their app. I just wonder how long I could keep one controllable. I do have a giant new heat mat and new grow lights. Lack of humidity would probably kill it in winter though. 

[rockinrickyfox]

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

My interest is piqued. They're $4 and change at the local grocery store. I know nothing about their origins or species or anything, I just checked their app. I just wonder how long I could keep one controllable. I do have a giant new heat mat and new grow lights. Lack of humidity would probably kill it in winter though. 

have you tried growing them indoors before? you say they'd die but i doubt it. i've heard of other people growing them indoors as houseplants like this person. coconuts can live for a century so aslong as it doesn't grow too tall you could probably keep one for years and years given the right conditions. i say go for it!

 

[JohnAndSancho]

I haven't. I've seen this one and I've seen Philly J's and I've seen what he has to do to keep his alive just to put it outside for like 2 months a year. But I mean worst case scenario I'm out $4, right? 

[rockinrickyfox]

16 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I haven't. I've seen this one and I've seen Philly J's and I've seen what he has to do to keep his alive just to put it outside for like 2 months a year. But I mean worst case scenario I'm out $4, right? 

yeah 4$ isn't too bad of a price for a experiment!

[JohnAndSancho]

12 minutes ago, rockinrickyfox said:

yeah 4$ isn't too bad of a price for a experiment!

Sounds better than paying $20 or $30 for a sprouted one off Etsy. We'll circle back to this once I'm over my banana obsession. 

[rockinrickyfox]

Alright I put em in the humidity dome. I normally use These for cactus seedlings but this works just perfectly for this. 

Two of them already have their eyes bulging out, most of these tend to do that. the grower has some very fresh and fertile coconuts they are always waiting to germinate! 

they are Bella brand, like I said from my local food for less. they always take only about week or so I had one take only three days from purchase and soaking and then planting. Day number 3 and it already had sprout poking out! 

[Dimimelbourne]

Good to see the success you’ve had sprouting these. I just started the process of trying to sprout a store bought husked coconut. I’m in Larnaca Cyprus about 34.9°N so I believe .8° further North than you?

I soaked it for 3 days now it’s in this bag with some water. 4 days in total thus far… any tips? 

[rockinrickyfox]

16 hours ago, Dimimelbourne said:

Good to see the success you’ve had sprouting these. I just started the process of trying to sprout a store bought husked coconut. I’m in Larnaca Cyprus about 34.9°N so I believe .8° further North than you?

I soaked it for 3 days now it’s in this bag with some water. 4 days in total thus far… any tips? 

with regards to sprouting i probably know as much as you do. Soak them for atleast a day, they like warmth humidity is not as necessary in my experience but this time i am trying inside the dome just to see how it turns out. however i have heard they like humidity which is why people always put them in bags. but the first few i just put them outside and they sprouted without issue. 

if you want some advice once they are sprouted. Do not put them in wet mulch and soil until they are fully sprouted and have roots and a little palm emerging. they love rotting in moist soil when they are just barely sprouting, i see people planting them after the sprout is mature and they seem to have no problems with rot maybe it has to do with the immune system of the plant beginning to work after they have some time, so they don't rot anymore or maybe the roots drink the water fast enough so it doesn't allow it to rot the nut im not sure.

do not leave the nut in direct sunlight. they love cracking and if they don't crack you will see them bulging and you think its a sprout but its actually the gasses trying to come out from the fermentation... it smells bad and its gross. 

the husk seems to be very important to protect from rot and overheating, without it we need to be more careful

i would've lot of little palms by now if i hadn't made these mistakes! but how else would i have learned 😆

 

 

[Dimimelbourne]

4 hours ago, rockinrickyfox said:

with regards to sprouting i probably know as much as you do. Soak them for atleast a day, they like warmth humidity is not as necessary in my experience but this time i am trying inside the dome just to see how it turns out. however i have heard they like humidity which is why people always put them in bags. but the first few i just put them outside and they sprouted without issue. 

if you want some advice once they are sprouted. Do not put them in wet mulch and soil until they are fully sprouted and have roots and a little palm emerging. they love rotting in moist soil when they are just barely sprouting, i see people planting them after the sprout is mature and they seem to have no problems with rot maybe it has to do with the immune system of the plant beginning to work after they have some time, so they don't rot anymore or maybe the roots drink the water fast enough so it doesn't allow it to rot the nut im not sure.

do not leave the nut in direct sunlight. they love cracking and if they don't crack you will see them bulging and you think its a sprout but its actually the gasses trying to come out from the fermentation... it smells bad and its gross. 

the husk seems to be very important to protect from rot and overheating, without it we need to be more careful

i would've lot of little palms by now if i hadn't made these mistakes! but how else would i have learned 😆

 

 

Legend thank you for this! 
First time doing it so let’s see. Not even a niggle so far but it’s been in the bag only a day or 2 after soaking for 3 and it’s in shade. 

I have seen a few mention that this is easier with a husk too but alas, here we are! 

[rockinrickyfox]

update, it’s grown about an inch since the last update. It’s loving the heat right now. There are a few little brown spots on the leaves but nothing serious. 

[Dimimelbourne]

Looking good! What’s temps are you guys seeing there at the moment?

 

[rockinrickyfox]

2 hours ago, Dimimelbourne said:

Looking good! What’s temps are you guys seeing there at the moment?

 

80s and 90s at day and 60s at night still very warm. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Damnit. 

 

 

This site is such a bad influence.