First palm in the ground...

[elHoagie]

I've finally planted my first palm in the ground at the new garden.  This will probably also be the first dead carcass I remove from the ground Some of you may remember the gorgeous Cocos I had growing at the old place in Altadena.  I tried to find the topic on the old forum, but I think I posted it on the forum before that...  Anyway,

I found this guy for $20 at OSH, and it's 2m tall!  It's from Hawaii, so I assume it's a Pacific Tall?  The nut is HUGE.  There are a bunch of black river rocks in the existing landscape in the front yard, so I borrowed a few to put around the palm.  Here's a couple photos.  I hope I didn't plant it too close to the wall.  It's about 60cm (2ft) away.

[elHoagie]

From above

[bgl]

Jack,

Glad to see you're in your new place now, and good luck with the Cocos and all the other palms that you'll be planting!

Aloha,

Bo-Göran

[Jeff Searle]

Jack,

    Daring! Coconuts don't really grow out there do they? Well, give a go anyways. The black stones look very nice. Oh....and the GOOD news is, the coconut is far enough from the wall.

Jeff

[BobbyinNY]

Nice Jack.... It'll be interesting to see how well it fares....  You could always protect it for a couple years during the really cold nights if you had to though... And when the tree gets some size on it, it'll probably toughen up a bit.

[DoomsDave]

Jack!

Drag out the bubbly for a guzzle!

You're much better at getting started than I was.  I dilly-dallied for a long time . . .

The only problem you might have is insufficient humidity.  

One thing that helped a dictyosperma that I had was that it was planted in the middle of a clump of the Ginger from Hell that kept the air moist.

Dave

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

(screaming above the fireworks and thunderous applause)  WELL DONE JACK !!!!!

[Exotic Life]

Very nice!

Robbin

[Gtlevine]

The new place looks great from the photo. An expansive view and not wall to wall houses.

Congratulations and good luck on the Coconut.

Gary

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Congrats on the Neococos....looks like your new place has some great views, what a nice tree to frame them...good luck with it!!

NG2: No Guts, No Glory!

[Kathy]

You couldn't have picked a better palm for the initiation, which should lend good luck to its fate.   It's a beauty.

And that's quite a bit of impressive terracing I see in the background.

[gavilan1]

Jack, you found a Cocos at OSH here in the LA basin with THAT MUCH growth?  That's a keeper.  More than likely a tall variety, but in Hawaii they have access to a slew of different Pacific Cocos, so it's anyone's guess until it gets bigger (projecting powerful optimism...).   Usually, poorly maintained big box nuts sold here dry out before they reach 24" of growth.   How much did you steal it for? (question wreaks of envy...)

[Dypsisdean]

Sheesh Jack,

I haven't even planted a Coco yet, feeling that I am out of the zone.

[Alicehunter2000]

Nice, is that the new concrete terrace that you posted that you were building?

[The Germinator]

I Like to call that extreme gardening.

Rotsa Ruck Kid.

Met your Wife, very nice Lady. Good Luck on the new House, I love that area. Hope you make the next meeting.

[elHoagie]

Thanks everyone!

Doug - this is by far the largest Cocos I've seen at OSH/HD, which is probably why I bought it.  It was $20.

Dean - Come on, it's not that cold at your elevation in kona

David - The block wall was already here when I moved in, but I'm going to have to build a LOT more.  The project I'm currently working on is a cold frame..

Ed - Glad you met Lindsey at the PSSC meeting, I should be at the next one.

[Carlo Morici]

(elHoagie @ Apr. 06 2007,18:53)

QUOTE

(...)There are a bunch of black river rocks in the existing landscape in the front yard, so I borrowed a few to put around the palm.  (...)

A landscaping tip: Why don't you borrow 30 more wheelbarrows of local pebbles and go further?

If it is from there it is better than anywhere!

...So which is going to be the second palm to go to the ground?

Carlo

[RadPalms]

Looks great Jack....My coco was brown and dead in two weeks (not as large as yours).......Can't wait to see your updated pics on the cold frame.....I am in the process of construting my greenhouse....It is a kit with a thousand parts....wish I would have just framed one up instead....oh well....

Curt

[Walter John]

...So which is going to be the second palm to go to the ground?

Yeh, that's what we want to know and see.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Jack

How much bigger is the palm planting area than your previous house and land

it was amazing how many palms you planted at your last place. It will be enjoyable to watch the garden pictures into the future as you expand the plantings. Did you dig many up and take them with you?

regards

colin

s

[Don Little]

Jack, I remember Phil saying in an earlier thread that supposedly the "pacific tall" variety would be the most cool hardy.  That's a nice looking one, keep us apprised as to how it does.  Hope it gets some growth and establishment before winter.  Matt's has been working out so far, hopefully yours will be the next.

[Kamipalms]

Jack,

A clean slate to begin with and previous experience will defiantly produce something unique.

I'm about 6-9 months behind you and can't wait.....

[happ]

Handsome coco, Jack  

Good luck in El Sereno [where I once lived & discovered USDA 11 in those hills].  Geographically, foothills are islands above lower layers of cooled air.  A frostless climate significantly broadens garden selection.  But wonder if coconut can tolerate extremely dry conditions & long chiily winter nights  ???   Santa ana winds are less damaging than in Altadena.  Again, good luck.

BTW - My potted nucifera has probably bite the dust.  The nut looks dried out.  Should I transplant or not?

[elHoagie]

This is great, thanks for all the replies!

Carlo - I have a lot more of those black pebbles to put around the palm, I just ran out of time before the photo was taken.  For the second palm...  I just picked up a C. gigas from palmazon.  I also have a D. decipiens in a 25 gallon pot I'd been growing at the old place.  Hopefully one/both of those will be in the ground soon.

Curt - The cold frame is progressing.  I'm hoping to get a lot done today, and maybe I'll take some pics this afternoon of the progress.

Colin - Thanks for the kind words.  The old garden was 350 m^2, the new one is 1500 m^2, so I have a LOT more room!

Don - I hope this Cocos is the most cool tolerant.  I haven't seen the sun (or temps above 20C) for a couple days now...

Jason - Hopefully your new place will be ready soon, it's great to start working on a "permanent" garden.

Happ - Yeah, I figure if Cocos can grow anywhere in SoCal it's probably here.  Far enough inland to have warm days, and no frost.  Don't worry if the nut looks dry on yours, as long as the leaves look good it should be fine.  Keep it on the dry side until we finally have some warm days...

[happ]

One watering technique you may consider is fine spray. "Nelson" sells a sprinkler than can shoot light spray 12'/3.65m into the air at a fairly lo-flow water volume.  [beware: this Nelson sprinkler must be moved gently].  

Also planted a caryota [urens] on recovered earth via Palmazon  

[Kris]

Dear Jack  

wish you all the best...

Love,

Kris  

[rubyz]

(Jeff Searle @ Apr. 06 2007,21:15)

QUOTE

Jack,

    Daring! Coconuts don't really grow out there do they? Well, give a go anyways

First of all, congratulations and best of luck in your new place, Jack!

    As for the coconut, I am always amazed at the climatic abuse this palm can survive, so it would seem to me that California should not have an unhospitable climate for it. Please correct me if I err. I also know of cases in which coconuts make do in the shade, as long as the temperature does not fall too low.

[elHoagie]

Thanks Kris and Reuven!

In general, Cocos will not grow in California because it's too cold.  There are a couple examples, but not many.  But, they are cheap to buy, so I keep trying...

Do they grow well in Israel?  I think I've seen pictures of them in Cairo?

[Al in Kona]

Hi Jack, I'm excited for you now that you've got a new and much larger area to plant plus quite a benevolent climate for your part of SoCal.  Of course it comes with the price of a lot of hard work but the rewards lie ahead of you.  And to see that you planted one of those common Cocos palms as your first palm!  One of my first palms planted here was also a Cocos but now I wished I had placed it in an out of the way area rather than along the driveway where the nuts can fall and hurt someone or do damage to a vehicle.  I need to take lessons from some of the Samoans on how to climb and trim these palms!  Since then I've only planted two other Cocos - dwarf types!

Your sloping property can be challenging but also presents great potential for a unique garden.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Jack

how big is the greenhouse going to be

regards

colin

[nomolos]

Hey Jack  how much land you got to work with there?

[SubTropicRay]

Hi Jack,

Nice to see the new plantings have begun.

BTW, my friends L. fulva infructescence is immature.  It will be a few months but I will keep you in the loop.

Ray

[elHoagie]

Al - The more I look at it, the more work I realize it's going to be.  I'm going to need a LOT of retaining walls.  But, like you said, the look will be unique once it's finished.  And I'm in no rush...  Also, I'm not too worried about having coconuts falling everywhere

Colin - The greenhouse is going to be 16ft (5m) long and 6.5ft (2m) wide.  The length is because everything in the US comes in 8ft lengths, and the width is determined by the distance between retaining walls.

Sol - I have about 1500 m^2 (16500 ft^2, or just over 1/3 acre).

Ray - That's great news on the L. fulva, those are sweet palms!

[Scott]

Jack - good luck with your Coco!

[Moose]

A historical carking

[quaman58]

Nah, knowing Jack, I suspect it's overhead & fruiting prolifically. 

[Josh-O]

23 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Nah, knowing Jack, I suspect it's overhead & fruiting prolifically. 

was over Jacks a few weeks ago. Things are looking real nice