Germinated a coconut in Canada

[Rickybobby]

Hey everyone well finally. I started this process in November of last year and finally my store bought coconut here in Ontario Canada has started to germinate just in time for spring 

[Rickybobby]

Soaked it for 3 days in warm water. Then put it in a bag and left it on top of my furnace where it always stayed over 70 degres for 3 months. Didn’t want to give up but I’m glad I didn’t 

[GottmitAlex]

Nice work! Keep it up. 

[Rickybobby]

Thanks. It makes up for killing one of my trachycarpus fortunei that I sprayed for bugs 

[PalmatierMeg]

Excellent. Don't get too impatient. Coconuts germinate on their schedule not ours. And they can take months to do so.

[KarenRei]

I wouldn't recommend a store coconut.  If you're going to grow a coconut palm, and use so much space and light, why not take the time and money to select a cultivar most appropriate to your environment?  I've got a Fiji Dwarf here (had the seed shipped straight from Fiji even!  ), as while most dwarf coconuts only start fruiting at small heights (but will still eventually become huge), Fiji Dwarf actually stays small.  Well, "small"-ish; small by coconut standards is still a sizeable tree 

That said... impressive that you managed to germinate a store coconut!  Usually they're dead     What's your grow environment like?

Edited February 16, 2018 by KarenRei

[Sanips]

54 minutes ago, KarenRei said:

I wouldn't recommend a store coconut.  If you're going to grow a coconut palm, and use so much space and light, why not take the time and money to select a cultivar most appropriate to your environment?  I've got a Fiji Dwarf here (had the seed shipped straight from Fiji even!  ), as while most dwarf coconuts only start fruiting at small heights (but will still eventually become huge), Fiji Dwarf actually stays small.  Well, "small"-ish; small by coconut standards is still a sizeable tree 

That said... impressive that you managed to germinate a store coconut!  Usually they're dead     What's your grow environment like?

How did you manage to order a coco from Fiji? I would like to know.

[KarenRei]

I knew a guy who spent a lot of time in Fiji 

It came with this great picture of some local kids in "warpainted" faces (due to some local festival that was going on) holding it up at the marketplace where it was purchased  

Edited February 16, 2018 by KarenRei

[KarenRei]

BTW, just want to add... if you (Rickybobby) change your mind about the store coconut and want to go with a better cultivar... what you did is not a waste!  Sprouted coconuts are a tasty treat.    

Edited February 16, 2018 by KarenRei

[Rickybobby]

I just thought it would be fun. I currently have a windmill saw palmetto a queen. Xmas and cabbage. All for around my pool in the warmer months. Luckily my family farm has heated greenhouses for when they get bigger.  I know that the coconut is not for here but I’ve never smiled so much after seeing it finally germinate we will see how it goes 

[Rickybobby]

Karenrai. Well we get stupid hot humid summers and warm and humid spring and fall. I have a importer down the road. Called xlb palm trees he services everyone around here  I could have bought a tree for 20 bux what fun is that

[Rickybobby]

Here’s an update from 3 weeks ago on my growing coconut you can see the tip of where the first leaf will be and on the left the roots are starting to sprout 

[Rickybobby]

Currently it is in a dark room and has its own grow heat mat with a thermostat with internal temperature set at 90 degrees

[Rickybobby]

[Rickybobby]

So with this being said when is it time to give the coconut daylight ? I realize the roots don’t want that and can be covered to keep them warm and dark ?

[GottmitAlex]

I recommend until the shoot is about this size:

 

[Rickybobby]

So no daylight until it’s that size? Right now it’s still in the dark

[GottmitAlex]

4 hours ago, Rickybobby said:

So no daylight until it’s that size? Right now it’s still in the dark

Exactly

[Rickybobby]

Thanks for the help

[The Silent Seed]

Way to go! 

I would love to do this, too, but being deaf, I cannot "test" them at the store to see which ones are good or bad. I look forward to further progress with yours! 

[chad2468emr]

Congrats! Its neat for me to be able to watch it at this time, I really appreciate the updates. I've never seen a coconut germinate but they're sure all over the place here in South Florida. I've always wondered what it really looked like.

[The Palm Nut]

It will be a challenge to keep it alive for any period of time but you seem to be doing all the right things to get it to that stage. Good Luck.

Here is one that has just germinated in the last 6 or so months, picked it up in northern Qld a couple of winters ago. Talk about slow germination!

Regards

Mike

 

[Rickybobby]

4 day update. It’s amazing   Mr coconut is loving his climate controlled bag that is always 90 degrees and humid some days the root grows a 1/4” a day!

[Rickybobby]

It now has a moist paper towel on the route 

[Rickybobby]

[Rickybobby]

I’m still amazed at this. Having my daughter and this coconut grow amazing! Lol

[sandgroper]

That’s fantastic mate!

[Rickybobby]

Update mr coconut is doing well. He got some sunburn and some brown tip first couple days I took it out of the nursery I had 90 degrees but 35 percent humidity and that damaged him a bit. Since then. Been 90 and 60 percent humidity and seems happy we have a week of 72 degrees coming up and nights of 55 degrees so back to the nursery to recover 

[GottmitAlex]

May I suggest spraying its leaves with wilt-pruf. Or any other spray anti-dessecant.

It helps a lot. Especially for summer.

 

[Howeadypsis]

Looking good!

[Rickybobby]

8 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

May I suggest spraying its leaves with wilt-pruf. Or any other spray anti-dessecant.

It helps a lot. Especially for summer.

 

Hmm interesting a lot of places in Canada don’t carry it. But I have found some

[sandgroper]

Great looking little palm mate! Can't be too many of them growing in Canada, well done!

[Rickybobby]

36 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

Great looking little palm mate! Can't be too many of them growing in Canada, well done!

I love the challenge of this palm

[John in Andalucia]

Pushing the boundaries doesn't even come into it when you endeavour to grow a coconut in Canada.

You're a 'palm pilgrim' for sure. I take my hat off to you! 

 

[GottmitAlex]

5 hours ago, Rickybobby said:

Hmm interesting a lot of places in Canada don’t carry it. But I have found some

It's worth it. At least in my case where humidity is low, and it gets hot.

Here's a pic from this morning of my golden Mexican tall seedling I germinated. Looks as if its leaves are made of plastic. That is the film wilt-pruf leaves on to protect it. You apply it at night or before the sun comes up so the product can do its thing (bond itself to the leaves) and not evaporate upon applying.

[Rickybobby]

Ok. No problem. It’s funny because we apply it here to our holly box woods and other ornamental plants for the winter. My daughter and I are going for a drive after lunch to get some at a local nursery maybe my recovering windmill palm could benefit from this as well

[GottmitAlex]

Btw, I said wlt-pruf, but I actually employ wilt-stop. Same thing.

 

[Rickybobby]

51 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

Btw, I said wlt-pruf, but I actually employ wilt-stop. Same thing.

 

Got some wilt pruf like you mentioned. My recovering trachycarpus and my coconut look shiny as heck now hope it helps them. Research shows good things from this 

[GottmitAlex]

1 hour ago, Rickybobby said:

Got some wilt pruf like you mentioned. My recovering trachycarpus and my coconut look shiny as heck now hope it helps them. Research shows good things from this 

Awesome. They're all the same. Best of luck

[palmfriend]

On 6/2/2018, 10:59:30, Rickybobby said:

Update mr coconut is doing well. He got some sunburn and some brown tip first couple days I took it out of the nursery I had 90 degrees but 35 percent humidity and that damaged him a bit. Since then. Been 90 and 60 percent humidity and seems happy we have a week of 72 degrees coming up and nights of 55 degrees so back to the nursery to recover 

Absolute spectacular - all the best with your baby! It looks strong - it will do well!

Just one thing: I don`t know what soil you are using, but a certain amount of pure sand mixed in would be good. (Just my two cents.)

Best  regards -

Lars