Mississippi... Coconut?

[JohnAndSancho]

TL:DR I bought a coconut and a papaya at Wal Mart, and this post clearly expresses my anxiety on running out of soil and large pots.

 

Ok, it's my Birthmas and when everyone else in the house is sicker than I am, I went to get my own cake. Kinda annoyed that they didn't have Tres Leches because I have a jonesing, but I got a churro cake and I hope it's not terrible. 

 

Anyway, since I'm already in Wally World, and their garden center is full of Santa Claus stuff already, and the Blue Cart of Death at Lowes was literally that. They had some variegated ginger but meh and of course they have a bunch of really tall dried out and sunburned Majesties, some Cat Palms with all their soil spilled out, and oddly enough the worst looking stuff was still full price - the Repens they had last time that looked like something fell on it was still there and still $99, except now it's sunburned. 

 

Anyway, on to the point. 

 

Any ideas on what variety of coconut this might be? I mean, not that it matters, we all know it's a crapshoot and it's gonna spend at least 5 months a year indoors. These weren't refrigerated like the local ones. 

 

And while I'm there 

I've already done digging and these are also going to spend lots of time indoors and probably break my grow table and make me buy more lights. 

So there go the big pots I have that I'm gonna need for the bananas 😂 Have y'all looked at the prices for 5+ gallon nursery pots now? It's insane. I can get like 100 1 gallon pots for cheap but big pots, it's cheaper to buy a trash can. I've got a mountain of fabric bags but I don't think most palms would like them, and bananas def won't. Not sure about papaya. Oh god I'm gonna need a mountain of soil in a few months too, just in time for it all to be expensive. 

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

Looks delicious and desert too. We need a food sub-forum. Enjoy.🥴

[OutpostPalms]

[OutpostPalms]

^heres a fun old topic on the subject of Mississippi coconut palms ☺️

[JohnAndSancho]

11 minutes ago, OutpostPalms said:

^heres a fun old topic on the subject of Mississippi coconut palms ☺️

Oh wow. I wish he was still around on here, I'd have about 2 billion questions and he'd probably have to kick me out of his yard at some point, even being 2 1/2 hours south of me. Thanks for finding that. 

[JohnAndSancho]

PLOP

We got a floater.

 

I'm going to use the guidance of @Rickybobby except I got a heat mat instead of an aquarium heater. Fingers crossed I grow something besides mold and stink. 

[meridannight]

I've germinated grocery store Papayas. In my naïveté I planted ALL the Papaya seed from my fruit in one go. The result was madness. They all came up. I was swimming in Papayas. They're very fun plants, but mine are still tiny, so I don't have that much advice to give yet.

Happy birthday by the way, if that's what you meant by ''birthmas''?

[JohnAndSancho]

14 minutes ago, meridannight said:

I've germinated grocery store Papayas. In my naïveté I planted ALL the Papaya seed from my fruit in one go. The result was madness. They all came up. I was swimming in Papayas. They're very fun plants, but mine are still tiny, so I don't have that much advice to give yet.

Happy birthday by the way, if that's what you meant by ''birthmas''?

Lol yeah, Birthmas is just a joke in the family. I've read that papayas grow FAST, flowering in 4 months and fruit in 9 "under ideal conditions." The YouTube videos I've watched, most people germinate a bunch and then cut off the weaker ones. Maybe I'll get lucky and a bunch of people will want to buy some, because I plan to do the same thing. How'd you germinate? Paper towel in a baggie seems to be the preferred method. 

[meridannight]

16 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

How'd you germinate? Paper towel in a baggie seems to be the preferred method. 

I just placed the seeds on top of vermiculite mix substrate in a community container. And the container went into a plastic bag. I don't remember how long it took me, but not weeks. They were pretty fast to come up. Paper towel method is probably just as good, and saves space. 

[Rivera]

Happy (belated) birthday!

[JohnAndSancho]

On 9/26/2025 at 9:42 PM, meridannight said:

I just placed the seeds on top of vermiculite mix substrate in a community container. And the container went into a plastic bag. I don't remember how long it took me, but not weeks. They were pretty fast to come up. Paper towel method is probably just as good, and saves space. 

I guess I need to cut this thing open before it gets funky. Years ago I bought a fresh papaya thinking it'd taste like the dried sugar coated stuff and I was massively disappointed lol. Supposedly this variety is sweet. I don't even remember what I bought before, or how ripe it was, or anything. I just took a bite and it tasted like vomit. I just bought this for the seeds so we'll see and if I don't like it, the possums will have a feast tonight. 

[WaianaeCrider]

31 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I guess I need to cut this thing open before it gets funky. Years ago I bought a fresh papaya thinking it'd taste like the dried sugar coated stuff and I was massively disappointed lol. Supposedly this variety is sweet. I don't even remember what I bought before, or how ripe it was, or anything. I just took a bite and it tasted like vomit. I just bought this for the seeds so we'll see and if I don't like it, the possums will have a feast tonight. 

From a Hawaiian taster....I bought a Mexican papaya in Baton Rouge years ago.  Took one bite and tossed the rest in the compost pile.  LOL  Best papaya I've had is grown on the North Shore of Oʻahu and is sold as a KAHUKU .

[JohnAndSancho]

1 minute ago, WaianaeCrider said:

From a Hawaiian taster....I bought a Mexican papaya in Baton Rouge years ago.  Took one bite and tossed the rest in the compost pile.  LOL  Best papaya I've had is grown on the North Shore of Oʻahu and is sold as a KAHUKU .

You gotta take what you can get around here. 

[aztropic]

On 9/26/2025 at 7:23 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Lol yeah, Birthmas is just a joke in the family. I've read that papayas grow FAST, flowering in 4 months and fruit in 9 "under ideal conditions." The YouTube videos I've watched, most people germinate a bunch and then cut off the weaker ones. Maybe I'll get lucky and a bunch of people will want to buy some, because I plan to do the same thing. How'd you germinate? Paper towel in a baggie seems to be the preferred method. 

Yes. Papaya are very fast growing and will turn into 8 foot trees with developing fruit in just one season. Be aware that they will NOT tolerate any frost, and the whole tree will turn to mush in the low 30's F. (usually before the fruit fully ripens, unless grown in a frost free area)

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[JohnAndSancho]

6 minutes ago, aztropic said:

Yes. Papaya are very fast growing and will turn into 8 foot trees with developing fruit in just one season. Be aware that they will NOT tolerate any frost, and the whole tree will turn to mush in the low 30's F. (usually before the fruit fully ripens, unless grown in a frost free area)

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

Grow 100, try to sell 97 while they're still small lol. That's my game plan. 

[WaianaeCrider]

3 hours ago, aztropic said:

Yes. Papaya are very fast growing and will turn into 8 foot trees with developing fruit in just one season. Be aware that they will NOT tolerate any frost, and the whole tree will turn to mush in the low 30's F. (usually before the fruit fully ripens, unless grown in a frost free area)

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

Depending on where you are they make a QUICK shade producing plant.

[meridannight]

3 hours ago, aztropic said:

Papaya are very fast growing and will turn into 8 foot trees with developing fruit in just one season.

Good to know. Somehow I missed this bit. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, WaianaeCrider said:

Depending on where you are they make a QUICK shade producing plant.

That's exactly what I need in the front of the house. Hell, this could help with my Bermuda grass issue too. I've noticed it seems to end under the big trees. And if I plant them out and the winter cooks them, I'm out ummm.... $3.96 as this one was just under 2 pounds at $1.99/pound. 

[JohnAndSancho]

On 9/28/2025 at 2:24 PM, WaianaeCrider said:

From a Hawaiian taster....I bought a Mexican papaya in Baton Rouge years ago.  Took one bite and tossed the rest in the compost pile.  LOL  Best papaya I've had is grown on the North Shore of Oʻahu and is sold as a KAHUKU .

Ok. I'll have to scrounge the interwebs. I ate most of this one, and it wasn't the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth and y'all can interpret that however you choose lol. But it was just like, if La Croix was a solid. Like it smells like something but it tastes like nothing. Anyway, I didn't count them but there's easily 100 seeds if not 200. 

[Hu Palmeras]

Let's go with the coconut, my friend. I can't germinate it in my area. It's very cold. But I can germinate the Becacriophoenix Alfredii.

[Hu Palmeras]

El 26/9/2025 a las 22:31, JohnAndSancho dijo:

Fuerza Aérea Popular de Liberación

Tenemos un flotador.

 

Voy a utilizar la guía de@Rickybobby Excepto que consiga una estera térmica en lugar de un calentador de acuario. Cruzo los dedos para que crezca algo que no genere moho ni 

beautiful coconut friend.

[Hu Palmeras]

El 25/9/2025 a las 22:34, OutpostPalms dijo:

[Hu Palmeras]

The seeds are a beautiful blessing. You have good luck, my friend.

[Hu Palmeras]

On 25/9/2025 at 22:21, Las Palmas Norte said:

Se ve delicioso y el postre también. Necesitamos un subforo de comida. ¡Que lo disfrutes! 🥴

I would like to buy coconut seeds, but I'm sure it won't work out for me.

[Hu Palmeras]

On 25/9/2025 at 20:34, JohnAndSancho said:

TL:DR Compré un coco y una papaya en Wal Mart, y esta publicación expresa claramente mi ansiedad por quedarme sin tierra y sin macetas grandes.

 

Bueno, es mi cumpleaños y como todos en casa están más enfermos que yo, fui a comprar mi propio pastel. Me molestó un poco que no tuvieran Tres Leches porque tengo un antojo, pero me compré un pastel de churros y espero que no esté tan mal. 

 

En fin, como ya estoy en Wally World, y su centro de jardinería ya está lleno de cosas de Papá Noel, y el Carrito Azul de la Muerte en Lowes era literalmente eso. Tenían jengibre jaspeado, pero meh, y claro, tienen un montón de Majesties altísimas, secas y quemadas por el sol, algunas palmeras de gato con toda la tierra derramada, y curiosamente, las que se veían peor seguían a precio completo: las Repens que tenían la última vez, que parecían como si algo les hubiera caído encima, seguían ahí y seguían costando $99, solo que ahora están quemadas por el sol. 

 

En cualquier caso, yendo al grano. 

 

¿Alguna idea de qué variedad de coco podría ser? Bueno, no es que importe, todos sabemos que es una apuesta arriesgada y que pasará al menos cinco meses al año en el interior. Estos no estaban refrigerados como los locales. 

 

Y mientras estoy allí 

Ya terminé de cavar y estos también pasarán mucho tiempo en el interior y probablemente romperán mi mesa de cultivo y me harán comprar más luces. 

Así que ahí van las macetas grandes que tengo que voy a necesitar para los plátanos 😂 ¿Han visto los precios de las macetas de vivero de más de 5 galones? ¡Es una locura! Puedo conseguir unas 100 macetas de 1 galón baratas, pero para las macetas grandes, es más barato comprar un bote de basura. Tengo un montón de bolsas de tela, pero no creo que a la mayoría de las palmeras les gusten, y a los plátanos definitivamente no. No estoy seguro de la papaya. ¡Dios mío! Yo también voy a necesitar un montón de tierra en unos meses, justo a tiempo para que todo sea caro. 

 

I never thought that supermarket coconut would be useful for germination.

[Hu Palmeras]

On 27/9/2025 at 10:28, Rivera said:

¡Feliz cumpleaños (atrasado)!

Happy birthday, friend. May God bless you.

[Hu Palmeras]

On 25/9/2025 at 22:34, OutpostPalms said:

I'd like to get the cursed coconut. If you know anyone, let me know.

[JohnAndSancho]

6 hours ago, Hu Palmeras said:

Happy birthday, friend. May God bless you.

Muchas gracias! I'm 47 now. Oof. 

 

6 hours ago, Hu Palmeras said:

I never thought that supermarket coconut would be useful for germination.

 

There's a few videos on YouTube, and a few people on here have tried with mixed results. It seems like it's a lot easier in Florida and Hawaii than anywhere else, but it's been done. Fingers crossed I grow something besides mold and stink!