Quite a few salt burned coconut palms in englewood

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

I saw quite a few nice palms here in englewood.  Coconuts looked nice however not as tall as the ones in bokeelia and pine island.  These ones by the water look a bit salt burned near blind pass beach.  

These look a bit healthier  but only because they look to be trimmed.

More inland areas look a bit less burned with the coconuts though This one was near the house we stayed at and was a 2010-2011 survivor (i checked google maps)  last year I got some coconuts and ate them with the owners consent.

this group also survived the 2011 winter.

 

these are near manasota key beach  not looking the best

Makes me wonder why in some areas the coconuts look much nicer despite being in the same general area.

the sabal below this coconut was growing sideways and was looking pretty healthy.

Near a palm nursery A more healthy one was too.  It seems they do better more inland.

Another more beaten up one at englewood beach

 

 

 

 

 

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

My guess would be the ones directly on the beach are growing in pure sand with no irrigation and are very thirsty. While the ones inland in the neighborhoods are getting irrigation, maybe fertilizer, and although in a sandy location, not quite as sandy as beach dunes. 

[PalmatierMeg]

In addition, as Englewood is further north than PI, colder winter temps might have added to some coconuts' woes. Maybe not low enough to kill outright but enough to burn leaf tips. My coconuts show cold damage when temps fall to low 40s, which happens every winter. And mid-winter highs in Englewood are not as warm as PI. Winters are significantly colder in Punta Gorda, which is only 20 miles north and also on the Gulf. Englewood is 3-4x away.

[PalmTreeDude]

And lacks nutrients.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

I agree with Jason.  I think it is lack of sufficient water.  The coconut palm in general is probably the MOST salt tolerant palm and one of the most salt tolerant plants in general, ranking right up there with sea grapes.  With that said, when I lived in Coral Springs, the Malayan Dwarfs planted along the beach at Lauderdale By The Sea and other nearby beaches looked kind of salt burned most of the time, while the Jamaican Talls nearby always looked fine.  I think Malayan Dwarfs are somewhat less salt tolerant than talls.  Many of the talls, seem to be native to tropical beaches and are thus exposed to salt spray and salty conditions all the time, whereas, I believe the Malayan Dwarfs are native to more inland areas of Southeast Asia that get lots of rainfall and have pretty rich soils.  The beach coconut I found at the beach here at Padre Island looked pretty poor (I just moved it on Friday to a location on the island where I could better care for it), and was only getting rainfall (which is very limited on Padre Island) until I started watering it.  It really started looking horrible recently, and when I dug it up, had virtually no roots, and the sand around it looked VERY DRY, even though I had added compost and mulch to it about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  So, I think the ones growing in pure sand, especially where rainfall is very low to begin with (or during droughts like some of Florida is having now) will not look their best.  The ones that are in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) that are adequately watered look good, but the ones that don't receive adequate water look bad.

 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

10 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

I agree with Jason.  I think it is lack of sufficient water.  The coconut palm in general is probably the MOST salt tolerant palm and one of the most salt tolerant plants in general, ranking right up there with sea grapes.  With that said, when I lived in Coral Springs, the Malayan Dwarfs planted along the beach at Lauderdale By The Sea and other nearby beaches looked kind of salt burned most of the time, while the Jamaican Talls nearby always looked fine.  I think Malayan Dwarfs are somewhat less salt tolerant than talls.  Many of the talls, seem to be native to tropical beaches and are thus exposed to salt spray and salty conditions all the time, whereas, I believe the Malayan Dwarfs are native to more inland areas of Southeast Asia that get lots of rainfall and have pretty rich soils.  The beach coconut I found at the beach here at Padre Island looked pretty poor (I just moved it on Friday to a location on the island where I could better care for it), and was only getting rainfall (which is very limited on Padre Island) until I started watering it.  It really started looking horrible recently, and when I dug it up, had virtually no roots, and the sand around it looked VERY DRY, even though I had added compost and mulch to it about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  So, I think the ones growing in pure sand, especially where rainfall is very low to begin with (or during droughts like some of Florida is having now) will not look their best.  The ones that are in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) that are adequately watered look good, but the ones that don't receive adequate water look bad.

 

so salt spray isnt the issue its the sand and lack of nutrients and water.  Sabals do a lot better in the pure sand from what Ive noticed. Keep us updated of the Beach coconut you relocated!