Documenting Coconut Growth Rates- From Sprout Forwards

[mgmccabe]

Starting a thread to document coconut growth from sprout forwards. I am always looking for more information on how quickly these trees grow and I figured this would be a cool place to start compiling that information by sharing dates and photos. Below you will see a coconut that sprouted in my yard about a week ago now on September 14th, 2017 and another of the growth that took place just over the proceeding 7 days! The second photo was take September 21st, 2017. 

[mgmccabe]

Growth update as of today 9/28. The emerging sprout has just about doubled in size. It looks like it may leaf soon. There are also roots sticking out below. 

[PalmWarbler]

Did you slice the coconut as seen in pic 2 or was that natural?

[mgmccabe]

The coconut in the background? I peeled it back after it cracked open. I don't believe that one is going to sprout. I thought it was going to because it cracked open quite largely a few months ago but nothing has happened since. 

[mgmccabe]

Weekly update here. It is starting to develop individual fronds. I can tell from the underside too that the roots have started developing much more significantly. Think I am going to transfer this to it's own pot soon until I know where to put it more permanently.

[Orly]

Here is a Fiji dwarf I planted as a seedling in mid April and what it looks like now six months later.

Seedling mid April:

Now in mid October:

Don't mind the tattered look to much, that was compliments of Irma.

I have 2 more planted at same time doing just as well.

[mgmccabe]

Put it in a pot last week as the roots were getting pretty extensive. Plan on keeping it here until I can find a more permanent home for it. Minimal frond growth this past week. Would be eager to see how much growth is happening with the roots. 

[mgmccabe]

11 hours ago, Orly said:

Here is a Fiji dwarf I planted as a seedling in mid April and what it looks like now six months later.

Seedling mid April:

Now in mid October:

Don't mind the tattered look to much, that was compliments of Irma.

I have 2 more planted at same time doing just as well.

This is awesome. Would love to see updates in a another few months. I think fiji dwarfs are beautiful. Saw a few mature ones this weekend at fairchild in miami and they were stunning. 

[Orly]

6 hours ago, mgmccabe said:

This is awesome. Would love to see updates in a another few months. I think fiji dwarfs are beautiful. Saw a few mature ones this weekend at fairchild in miami and they were stunning. 

I've never seen one in person.  I wanted dwarf coconut palms and figured I'd get something different.  They do look nice in all the photos and vids I've seen.

I'll post some updates in a few months.  Not sure how much longer the growing season for them will be.

[mgmccabe]

Frond have developed a little more. They have certainly gotten larger. A new one coming in as well. I think it might be putting a lot of energy into root development at the moment. 

[mgmccabe]

Growth Update on December 2nd, 2017. Been about 11 weeks since it first sprouted. Fall has been very good to this small tree. It's amazing how fast it has shot up. It now has 6 fronds and seems to be ready to sprout some more. I hope the growth doesn't slow down in the winter. 

[topwater]

Great thread, to wildly varying degrees, everyone on this board loves watching coconuts grow.   

[PalmTreeDude]

Wow! Nice coconut! 

[mgmccabe]

Growth update February 18th, 2018. It’s been very warm in Miami recently and it seems to have picked back up post winter! 

Any idea how this pot may impact its growth?

[Orly]

Almost a year since I planted my Niu Leka (Fiji Coconut palm) seedling and this is where it's at.  Been very dry so far this year.  The rainy season hasn't arrived yet but once it does I expect the increased temps, moisture and humidity to jump-start some more serious growth.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Orly

[mgmccabe]

I am hoping for the same! May the heat and humidity bring some new growth to our cocos! 

[GottmitAlex]

They love salt. A couple spoonfuls of NaCl and they skyrocket.

 

 

[mgmccabe]

14 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

They love salt. A couple spoonfuls of NaCl and they skyrocket.

 

 

Could you talk more about this? Are we talking common salt from the kitchen? 

[GottmitAlex]

11 minutes ago, mgmccabe said:

Could you talk more about this? Are we talking common salt from the kitchen? 

Yes. Kitchen salt works. I order San Francisco sea salt in 1 lbs bags. 

Two table spoons every 3 months they love. In fact in coco production, they give mature cocos 1.5 KILOS of salt a year. There is a paper on this. I'll look for it and upload it.

http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/pdf/techno/salt.pdf

http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/pdf/techno/salt.pdf

Edited March 31, 2018 by GottmitAlex

[mgmccabe]

3 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Yes. Kitchen salt works. I order San Francisco sea salt in 1 lbs bags. 

Two table spoons every 3 months they love. In fact in coco production, they give mature cocos 1.5 KILOS of salt a year. There is a paper on this. I'll look for it and upload it.

http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/pdf/techno/salt.pdf

http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/pdf/techno/salt.pdf

Wow thank you! So how big are your palms? What would you guesstimate is a good salt amount/Palm size ratio. I have seedlings and also more mature.

Edited March 31, 2018 by mgmccabe

[GottmitAlex]

You're quite welcome!

Seedlings, two tablespoons. 

Juveniles 4-6 tablespoons. Every three months. Just spread it around as fertilizer.

Well, I just uploaded a picture of my Golden Malayan Dwarf which has skyrocketed since I planted it late August 2016 as a single leaf seedling. 

Here it is today.

 

 

[mgmccabe]

5 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

You're quite welcome!

Seedlings, two tablespoons. 

Juveniles 4-6 tablespoons. Every three months. Just spread it around as fertilizer.

Well, I just uploaded a picture of my Golden Malayan Dwarf which has skyrocketed since I planted it late August 2016 as a single leaf seedling. 

Here it is today.

 

 

Wow! Mine sprouted last August and don’t look like that. I supposed they need another year yet. Impressive. Thank you for the advice. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by mgmccabe

[GottmitAlex]

3 minutes ago, mgmccabe said:

Wow! Mine sprouted last August and don’t look like that. I supposed they need another year yet. Impressive. Thank you for the advice. 

Best of luck to you. Don't overdue it on the salt if it's still bifid. Is yours a Malayan dwarf?  What kind of soil is it in? 

[Orly]

Would you still feed salt if you regularly fertilize? I think fertilizer contains sodium. I use Palm Gain fertilizer every 3 months or so.

[GottmitAlex]

This is how it was when I originally planted it in august 2016, one month before I changed out the "native" soil for pure sand. In September 2016 was its final positioning. 

[GottmitAlex]

14 minutes ago, Orly said:

Would you still feed salt if you regularly fertilize? I think fertilizer contains sodium. I use Palm Gain fertilizer every 3 months or so.

Without hesitation. They require salt to thrive. The low amount of salt in regular fertilizer does not cut it. 

I use miracle-gro palm every three months as well across the board for all my palms. But except for the coconuts, I have not seen any advantages with my other palms. The difference being I employ NaCl on the cocos. I just purchased a different brand of fertilizer for this season, I'll tell you if it works or not. 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by GottmitAlex
Cellphone auto-correct

[mgmccabe]

1 hour ago, GottmitAlex said:

Best of luck to you. Don't overdue it on the salt if it's still bifid. Is yours a Malayan dwarf?  What kind of soil is it in? 

I have one that is a Malayan yellow dwarf. It’s gotten pretty large and I have it in the ground. I have no idea what any of my young cocos are. I collected them all from underneath mature palms around miami. 

Sharing the pictures of the two below I applied salt to this afternoon. One is the Malayan yellow dwarf and the other is in a pot. Let’s see how it goes! 

[mgmccabe]

This new leaf is no longer fully bifold! Another milestone for this coco.

[Rickybobby]

Does mine count germinated from store bought last November and you guys are right gave it some salt this week and he’s greening up very fast

[Rickybobby]

Here’s mins sowed it middle of November 2017

[GottmitAlex]

On 3/31/2018, 2:45:57, mgmccabe said:

Wow thank you! So how big are your palms? What would you guesstimate is a good salt amount/Palm size ratio. I have seedlings and also more mature.

2 min ago... a 1.5 year old golden malayan dwarf and a 1 year pacific tall to its left.

 

 

[GottmitAlex]

Yes, the talls grow quite expediently.

Edited May 8, 2018 by GottmitAlex

[GottmitAlex]

And to my Jamaican tall/Atlantic tall which passed away last month. (Due to liquid cement which was poured into its plot. Almost three gallons...) I offer this requiem(for a tall coconut palm, of course):

https://youtu.be/CIrvSJwwJUE

Edited May 8, 2018 by GottmitAlex

[mgmccabe]

It’s really warmed up down here in Miami. Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed some sunburn on this coconut. New fronds don’t appear to mind. Most recent frond has started to split and is just partly bifold.

[mgmccabe]

One years growth on this coconut. Looking great!

[mgmccabe]

Better angle for the fronds 

[mgmccabe]

Growth on this second coco has been even more remarkable over the last 12 months. It’s taller than me! It has also developed a beautiful lean.

[Orly]

On 10/17/2017, 9:40:02, mgmccabe said:

This is awesome. Would love to see updates in a another few months. I think fiji dwarfs are beautiful. Saw a few mature ones this weekend at fairchild in miami and they were stunning. 

 

On 10/16/2017, 10:01:32, Orly said:

Here is a Fiji dwarf I planted as a seedling in mid April and what it looks like now six months later.

Seedling mid April:

Now in mid October:

Don't mind the tattered look to much, that was compliments of Irma.

I have 2 more planted at same time doing just as well.

Here's the same palm 18 months after seedling planting:

Here is another planted as seedling at the same time 18 months ago.  Smaller though.

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Orly

[Orly]

Correction to my above post.  Those last pics are 30 months after seedlings planted.

[ruskinPalms]

Not exactly a sprout but still pretty young. Pardon my kids playhouse which was blown up against the fence by some kind of strong weather that must have been going on that evening. 

September 1, 2016 compared to September 24, 2018: