My Perth coconut palm

[Cluster]

Hello Dave,

Nice to see it is doing well for you! Did you fertilize it during the winter this year? It seems to me it has more color than in previous years. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[UK_Palms]

20 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

I hope she keeps going on mate. Every year it survives it will get tougher and stronger provided it gets enough nutrients in the warmer weather. We had a 20C day here today. All my Beccariophoenix alfredii have remained deep green despite that neg 2.5C we had and the 150mm of rain we have already had in August so far. They are my Cocos equivalent now. A real Cocos would dead by early May here.

You guys had -2.5C at the coast in southwestern WA? 

At least your Beccariophoenix alfredii's are standing up to that cold and the 6 inches of rain you have had in the past two weeks. It gives me hope for my one here at lat 51N. It was only germinated in the spring, but has been outside since early June and is now on it's 3rd strap leaf. I'll probably bring it indoors by October and continue to mollycoddle it for the next few years.

But ultimately, I will be planting this thing outdoors eventually, once it has a few feet of trunk. We're probably talking a decade from now though. I'll have to put it in a south facing spot with a good microclimate though, no doubt. Even then, we are talking about zone pushing to the max here. I may be trying the impossible this far north... 

[sandgroper]

5 hours ago, Cluster said:

Hello Dave,

Nice to see it is doing well for you! Did you fertilize it during the winter this year? It seems to me it has more color than in previous years. Keeping my fingers crossed.

G'day mate,  yes I did fertilise it several times over winter this year, I use liquid fertiliser, seaweed solution and fish emulsion along with sulphate of potash. The palm does yellow off over winter but does green up again as soon as the weather warms up. I think the winter fertiliser did help, the palm slowed down but has continued to grow over the cold weather and I noticed yesterday a new spear is beginning to open up which is a good sign. Thanks for the support, it's all a big experiment this zone pushing exercise but very rewarding when you see some positive signs.

[sandgroper]

7 hours ago, Tyrone said:

I hope she keeps going on mate. Every year it survives it will get tougher and stronger provided it gets enough nutrients in the warmer weather. We had a 20C day here today. All my Beccariophoenix alfredii have remained deep green despite that neg 2.5C we had and the 150mm of rain we have already had in August so far. They are my Cocos equivalent now. A real Cocos would dead by early May here.

I saw the flooding in Albany on the news the other day, it's incredible the amount of rain that fell around the south west. The cockies will be loving it, seems a lot of rain is getting through to the areas that need it, fingers crossed it'll be a bumper year. 

We've had some cold temps in Perth this winter, some of the days have broken records for low temperatures and it's not over, looks like this coming week is another cold one. The days are getting longer, the plants and bees are on the move but winter's not finished with us just yet. I remember this time last year we had a 30c day, we'll only be getting half that tomorrow. 

[Tyrone]

7 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

You guys had -2.5C at the coast in southwestern WA? 

At least your Beccariophoenix alfredii's are standing up to that cold and the 6 inches of rain you have had in the past two weeks. It gives me hope for my one here at lat 51N. It was only germinated in the spring, but has been outside since early June and is now on it's 3rd strap leaf. I'll probably bring it indoors by October and continue to mollycoddle it for the next few years.

But ultimately, I will be planting this thing outdoors eventually, once it has a few feet of trunk. We're probably talking a decade from now though. I'll have to put it in a south facing spot with a good microclimate though, no doubt. Even then, we are talking about zone pushing to the max here. I may be trying the impossible this far north... 

Give that one enough time to get as big as you can handle it in a pot before letting it handle a uk winter. They are like solar panels so in that respect just like a real Cocos. None of my Beccariophoenix flinched at the -2.5C we had and we were below zero for 8 hrs. Mega frost event for down here. In comparison my trunking roebellinis some which are right next to my bigger Beccies bronzed off. So if you’re growing roebellinis outside you may have a chance with B alfredii.

[UK_Palms]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

Give that one enough time to get as big as you can handle it in a pot before letting it handle a uk winter. They are like solar panels so in that respect just like a real Cocos. None of my Beccariophoenix flinched at the -2.5C we had and we were below zero for 8 hrs. Mega frost event for down here. In comparison my trunking roebellinis some which are right next to my bigger Beccies bronzed off. So if you’re growing roebellinis outside you may have a chance with B alfredii.

Yeah, I'll keep it potted and mollycoddled for about a decade or so. Or at least until it has some decent size and a fair bit of trunk to help it survive a winter here. By the time I plant it out though, our winters may have warmed up even more due to global warming/climate change. Winters certainly aren't as cold as they used to be here. They are however a lot wetter these days, but consequently milder. 

My lowest last winter was -3.1C out here in the rural countryside. My nearest big town/city, Guildford, went down to -2.3C. Similar winter low to you. However east-central London and the south coast didn't drop below +1.5C (35F) last winter. No doubt those areas will be better locations to zone push a Beccariophoenix, in regards to winter temps. I don't know whether anyone else is trying them over here? London would certainly be well worth a shout with their milder winters. Better than rural Surrey at least. 

Have you got your Beccies protected against north facing structures, or close to the house? Or are they just out in the open? Also do you irrigate them in summer, or can they take quite a bit of drought? 

[Tyrone]

9 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Yeah, I'll keep it potted and mollycoddled for about a decade or so. Or at least until it has some decent size and a fair bit of trunk to help it survive a winter here. By the time I plant it out though, our winters may have warmed up even more due to global warming/climate change. Winters certainly aren't as cold as they used to be here. They are however a lot wetter these days, but consequently milder. 

My lowest last winter was -3.1C out here in the rural countryside. My nearest big town/city, Guildford, went down to -2.3C. Similar winter low to you. However east-central London and the south coast didn't drop below +1.5C (35F) last winter. No doubt those areas will be better locations to zone push a Beccariophoenix, in regards to winter temps. I don't know whether anyone else is trying them over here? London would certainly be well worth a shout with their milder winters. Better than rural Surrey at least. 

Have you got your Beccies protected against north facing structures, or close to the house? Or are they just out in the open? Also do you irrigate them in summer, or can they take quite a bit of drought? 

No protection. All out in the open. Yes they get irrigation from spring to early winter unless the place floods early. They could probably survive without irrigation ( Ive got peat soil on a valley floor) but that would slow down growth so I irrigate and fertilise to maximise growth. 

[SouthSeaNate]

On 8/16/2020 at 3:56 AM, UK_Palms said:

Yeah, I'll keep it potted and mollycoddled for about a decade or so. Or at least until it has some decent size and a fair bit of trunk to help it survive a winter here. By the time I plant it out though, our winters may have warmed up even more due to global warming/climate change. Winters certainly aren't as cold as they used to be here. They are however a lot wetter these days, but consequently milder. 

My lowest last winter was -3.1C out here in the rural countryside. My nearest big town/city, Guildford, went down to -2.3C. Similar winter low to you. However east-central London and the south coast didn't drop below +1.5C (35F) last winter. No doubt those areas will be better locations to zone push a Beccariophoenix, in regards to winter temps. I don't know whether anyone else is trying them over here? London would certainly be well worth a shout with their milder winters. Better than rural Surrey at least. 

Have you got your Beccies protected against north facing structures, or close to the house? Or are they just out in the open? Also do you irrigate them in summer, or can they take quite a bit of drought? 

Beccariophoenix will not survive in the UK, it isn't the minimum temperatures, but once again the fact that daytime highs are far too cool for too long. I tried a decent sized one in my Southsea garden & it died after the first winter in the ground, with only a low of around -1C. You need to look at much more than what minimum temperatures palms can take, as the climate of the UK is completely different, places in Australia, the US & elsewhere in Europe can get below freezing temperatures, but daytime highs rebound into at least the teens or higher.

[sandgroper]

The coconut looks pretty ragged but at least it has gone through winter with no protection other than a 2 week period where I wrapped an old removalist blanket around the trunk. It'll green up again now, it's surprising just how quick it comes back with a bit of warm weather.  I'm very pleased with it, very comforting to see that it can tolerate winter unprotected, it might look a bit rough by the end of winter but it still came through.

[sipalms]

22 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

It'll green up again now, it's surprising just how quick it comes back with a bit of warm weather.  I'm very pleased with it, very comforting to see that it can tolerate winter unprotected, it might look a bit rough by the end of winter but it still came through.

That's great. My Queens (yes I know Queen Palms are a bit of a curse word around here!) are exactly the same. They'll look a bit ragged, tatty and yellow by the end of winter but by mid November I'll be looking at them in amazement. Seem to green up well once the strong sunlight sets in.

[palmsOrl]

I never get tired of seeing your coconuts Sandgroper, especially the large one.

Also, it's an extra challenge in a marginal climate because it's a yellow Malayan.

[sandgroper]

13 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

I never get tired of seeing your coconuts Sandgroper, especially the large one.

Also, it's an extra challenge in a marginal climate because it's a yellow Malayan.

Thanks mate. It is a challenge but that's part of the fun. Unfortunately we're a bit limited with the varieties of coconut we can get hold of here, I'd like to try a few of the other varieties if I could get them.

[lzorrito]

3 hours ago, sandgroper said:

The coconut looks pretty ragged but at least it has gone through winter with no protection other than a 2 week period where I wrapped an old removalist blanket around the trunk. It'll green up again now, it's surprising just how quick it comes back with a bit of warm weather.  I'm very pleased with it, very comforting to see that it can tolerate winter unprotected, it might look a bit rough by the end of winter but it still came through.

After being through winter with no protection...ragged or not...they are just looking great!

[sandgroper]

8 minutes ago, lzorrito said:

After being through winter with no protection...ragged or not...they are just looking great!

Thanks mate!

[sandgroper]

3 hours ago, sipalms said:

That's great. My Queens (yes I know Queen Palms are a bit of a curse word around here!) are exactly the same. They'll look a bit ragged, tatty and yellow by the end of winter but by mid November I'll be looking at them in amazement. Seem to green up well once the strong sunlight sets in.

It's amazing how they green up again, you'd think once they turned yellow the fronds days would be numbered but they just turn green again!

[palmsOrl]

3 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

I never get tired of seeing your coconuts Sandgroper, especially the large one.

Also, it's an extra challenge in a marginal climate because it's a yellow Malayan.

Or is it golden?  I have indeed seen Malayans I would consider "yellow" and those I would consider "golden".  Then, of course there are "red" as well (and green).

[sandgroper]

On 9/15/2020 at 11:20 PM, palmsOrl said:

Or is it golden?  I have indeed seen Malayans I would consider "yellow" and those I would consider "golden".  Then, of course there are "red" as well (and green).

It's a golden Malay dwarf, or that's what it was bought as. We are a bit limited here with what varieties we can get. I have no idea what the small one is but I do think it's a different type, it seems to be a lot tougher than the large one, that little bugger sailed through winter with zero help from me.

[GottmitAlex]

15 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

It's a golden Malay dwarf, or that's what it was bought as. We are a bit limited here with what varieties we can get. I have no idea what the small one is but I do think it's a different type, it seems to be a lot tougher than the large one, that little bugger sailed through winter with zero help from me.

And they're growing nicely Dave!

[sandgroper]

Just a quick update, our weather here in Perth stayed quite cool well into spring this year but it has warmed up now. The coconut is growing well, has greened up again and looks pretty good. I've trimmed off the dead fronds and considering it had zero protection over what turned out to be a long winter I think it's doing ok. We also had the wettest November on record which I think helped. Pretty happy with everything so far, we'll see how we go.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 12/11/2020 at 8:48 PM, sandgroper said:

Just a quick update, our weather here in Perth stayed quite cool well into spring this year but it has warmed up now. The coconut is growing well, has greened up again and looks pretty good. I've trimmed off the dead fronds and considering it had zero protection over what turned out to be a long winter I think it's doing ok. We also had the wettest November on record which I think helped. Pretty happy with everything so far, we'll see how we go.

They are both looking pretty good Dave, considering you are growing them at their absolute southernmost limit where they can be grown in your part of Australia.  Keep up the good work.  Your big one might even start flowering in the next year or so.  Wouldn't it be neat if it actually produces a few coconuts.

John

 

 

[sandgroper]

18 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

They are both looking pretty good Dave, considering you are growing them at their absolute southernmost limit where they can be grown in your part of Australia.  Keep up the good work.  Your big one might even start flowering in the next year or so.  Wouldn't it be neat if it actually produces a few coconuts.

John

 

 

Thanks John, and yes, it would be fantastic if it actually produced fruit! Cheers.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 12/14/2020 at 4:09 PM, sandgroper said:

Thanks John, and yes, it would be fantastic if it actually produced fruit! Cheers.

You are welcome, Dave.

[michael]

Dave - been reading about your success with your coconuts with interest. How did they go with the three 40+ days over Christmas, and the generally hot January? Do they just take it in their stride, or can you tell that they even really like it?

Michael

[sandgroper]

10 hours ago, michael said:

Dave - been reading about your success with your coconuts with interest. How did they go with the three 40+ days over Christmas, and the generally hot January? Do they just take it in their stride, or can you tell that they even really like it?

Michael

They take the heat pretty well, that doesn't seem to bother them but just this past week I've lost a new frond which is concerning. It's the newest frond that had only just opened, within 4 days it went from dark green to yellow, went limp and collapsed. I think it may have been due to the incessant easterlies we've been having, they have truly been relentless, extremely hot and dry, they've cooked plants all over Perth. I know Tyrone in Albany has had trouble with them too. Hopefully they've now come to an end. I'll monitor the coconut for any further dramas and if  it continues to deteriorate I'll see if there is another problem like pests or fungus attacking it.

[Tyrone]

13 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

They take the heat pretty well, that doesn't seem to bother them but just this past week I've lost a new frond which is concerning. It's the newest frond that had only just opened, within 4 days it went from dark green to yellow, went limp and collapsed. I think it may have been due to the incessant easterlies we've been having, they have truly been relentless, extremely hot and dry, they've cooked plants all over Perth. I know Tyrone in Albany has had trouble with them too. Hopefully they've now come to an end. I'll monitor the coconut for any further dramas and if  it continues to deteriorate I'll see if there is another problem like pests or fungus attacking it.

That collapsing new leaf likely was those stinkin easterlies combined with Perth heat and UV.

Just before Xmas I acquired a couple of sun hardened but neglected Kentias. I planted them into 80% shade with a couple of breaks in the canopy. I came back from a trip to Perth and they were loving life and one had just cracked a new spear open. Two days later we had that 38.3C day and that new leaf got seriously sunburnt and is now a dry crispy mess. Considering that these were sunhardened plants, were watered like mad and planted in a very shady spot and still got damaged, I’m not surprised something similar happened to your coconut in Perth full sun. The combination of dessicating wind, very high heat and UV could do a bit of damage to a tender new leaf just opened.  In general though my Perth coconut could handle Perth heat well. It probably did best in the high twenties to early thirties with nights in the twenties though.

[tim_brissy_13]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

That collapsing new leaf likely was those stinkin easterlies combined with Perth heat and UV.

Just before Xmas I acquired a couple of sun hardened but neglected Kentias. I planted them into 80% shade with a couple of breaks in the canopy. I came back from a trip to Perth and they were loving life and one had just cracked a new spear open. Two days later we had that 38.3C day and that new leaf got seriously sunburnt and is now a dry crispy mess. Considering that these were sunhardened plants, were watered like mad and planted in a very shady spot and still got damaged, I’m not surprised something similar happened to your coconut in Perth full sun. The combination of dessicating wind, very high heat and UV could do a bit of damage to a tender new leaf just opened.  In general though my Perth coconut could handle Perth heat well. It probably did best in the high twenties to early thirties with nights in the twenties though.

Tall, sun exposed H forsterianas in Melbourne almost invariably have 1-3 random fronds in their crown that are completely brown and dryed up. No matter how sun hardened they are, it seems if we have a hot 40C ish day with hot northerlies within a few days of a frond opening it turns them to toast. They generally recover ok until the next event it they are well watered. 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 9/15/2020 at 10:20 AM, palmsOrl said:

Or is it golden?  I have indeed seen Malayans I would consider "yellow" and those I would consider "golden".  Then, of course there are "red" as well (and green).

Michael, there are 3 varieties of Malayan Dwarfs, the Green, the Golden (which some people call "Red"), and the Yellow Malayan, that has a BRIGHT YELLOW petiole and coconuts, but seems to be the least cold hardy, with the Green Malayan being the most cold hardy of the 3, and the Golden being the second most cold hardy, but only slightly more cold hardy than the Yellow.

[GottmitAlex]

59 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Michael, there are 3 varieties of Malayan Dwarfs, the Green, the Golden (which some people call "Red"), and the Yellow Malayan, that has a BRIGHT YELLOW petiole and coconuts, but seems to be the least cold hardy, with the Green Malayan being the most cold hardy of the 3, and the Golden being the second most cold hardy, but only slightly more cold hardy than the Yellow.

I concur.

[Mikelzz]

We had 40 degrees for a brief period here in Sarasota and the next morning and the following days there was obvious damage ,  The yellow Malayan had more damage than the Green.

around town, the taller trees had less damage , but many have dmaged lower leaves.  The newer top leaves were not as damaged

these are in my garden

[sandgroper]

8 hours ago, Mikelzz said:

We had 40 degrees for a brief period here in Sarasota and the next morning and the following days there was obvious damage ,  The yellow Malayan had more damage than the Green.

around town, the taller trees had less damage , but many have dmaged lower leaves.  The newer top leaves were not as damaged

these are in my garden

40c is not uncommon here in the warm months but the drying easterlies have been relentless and they're not usually like this, they've been blowing hard for weeks on end and after a brief reprieve have started again. My coconut has tolerated plenty of days of 40c + with no dramas but this is the first time it's gone through such strong and prolonged easterlies. I've been putting plenty of water on it this last few weeks which have made a big difference, the latest frond opening at the moment looks perfectly normal again.

[Cluster]

I think he means 40F

[sandgroper]

4 hours ago, Cluster said:

I think he means 40F

Bloody hell, that didnt even cross my mind! Thanks mate!

[Mikelzz]

yes ,, 40 degrees F  !!

[sandgroper]

Well, three weeks out from the first day of winter here in Perth, the coconut had a rough summer due to the strong easterly winds, here in Western Australia when they come they're blowing straight from the dry desert interior of our state which is quite unpleasant if you happen to be a plant! I probably didn't spend as much time watering and caring for the palm as I should have but sometimes life gets in the way. Not to worry, he's still punching on and about to enter his third (I think) winter with no protection so we'll see what happens. Here's hoping!

[sandgroper]

[palmfriend]

Dave,

Thank you for the update and all the best for it for the upcoming winter! It looks a bit shaken

but it will sail through it - it has done it before! 

 

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[sandgroper]

Middle of winter here, it's been very wet and cold, wettest for many years and although we're only halfway through July we've already had more than the monthly average.

The big coconut doesn't look too good which is a shame, probably a lot of the reason is my own fault as it wasn't looked after too well over the hot dry summer but sometimes plants have to take a backseat to other parts of life. The interesting thing is the little one, I've never really looked after this one since the day it went in the ground, it has certainly had no winter protection compared to the bigger coconut yet as of today it is dark green and looks really good. It seems to be much slower growing than the bigger one but without doubt much tougher, or at least able to handle the Perth winter far better than the large palm. I really think they are two different types, I know the larger one is a golden Malay dwarf, the smaller one was purchased as the same but to me never looked the same from day one.  Another five odd weeks and the weather will start warming up again so we'll see what happens, I don't want to lose either but I'm really surprised at the difference between the two. 

[palmfriend]

Dave,

the smaller one looks indeed completely different, almost "unimpressed" by your winter...

However, both will be good - I am sure!

best regards 

Lars

 

[GottmitAlex]

Dave.  Do you know the small coco's variety?  It seems unfazed by the weather. Can't tell from the angle of the pic, but does the golden malayan give the small one any type of canopy or protection? 

[sandgroper]

On 7/19/2021 at 8:45 AM, GottmitAlex said:

Dave.  Do you know the small coco's variety?  It seems unfazed by the weather. Can't tell from the angle of the pic, but does the golden malayan give the small one any type of canopy or protection? 

The little coconut gets no protection at all from the big one mate, it gets the same amount of wind, rain and sunshine as the big one. The little one was sold as a golden Malay dwarf, like the big one but it never looked the same to me. It is much slower growing but seems much tougher to me. I might see if I can get another one the same and plant it somewhere else in the yard.