Unbelievable, Fruiting Coconut Palm in Southern California!

[Moose]

11 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Well said. And yes, the unprotected Corona 9b coco.. the sweet irony. 

Until now, the only thing I have read which keeps cocos from growing in Socal zone 10, are the antagonistic folks "reminding" us all that cocos cannot grow in Socal.

As you aptly noted, the Corona ( freezing and snowy, 9b) coco is living proof of the opposite of the hearsay/myth. Those pontificating statements will give anyone a downer. And hence influence  folks to grow something instead of a coco or another tropical palm. I.e. bottle, dunno, A. merillii..... et al

Might as well plant some Cyrtostachys renda interspersed between the Coconuts for contrast and color. Perhaps some Vershaeffeltia splendida too for the beautiful stilt roots.

That would really show up the naysayers.  

[Josue Diaz]

Bump. 

Someone posted these on the FB page. Cocos nucifera in Del Mar. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

On 5/25/2018, 3:49:09, GottmitAlex said:

Well said. And yes, the unprotected Corona 9b coco.. the sweet irony. 

Until now, the only thing I have read which keeps cocos from growing in Socal zone 10, are the antagonistic folks "reminding" us all that cocos cannot grow in Socal.

As you aptly noted, the Corona ( freezing and snowy, 9b) coco is living proof of the opposite of the hearsay/myth. Those pontificating statements will give anyone a downer. And hence influence  folks to grow something instead of a coco or another tropical palm. I.e. bottle, dunno, A. merillii..... et al

  My rule of thumb with such skewed sentiment is to put such thought on the back burner / ignore / don't engage list, and test/ zone push.. whatever you might call it, myself.. and draw my own conclusion(s). Sometimes things fail, other times surprise, more importantly, you gain priceless knowledge a naysayer wouldn't.. which is more valuable in life and discussion in the end.


 All other potential challenges considered, an earlier thought you shared about digging a.. say 4' x 5' x 4' sized hole and filling with a soil mix that could potentially tip the scales in favor of success has crossed my mind several times when thinking about what could be done to give a Coconut an advantage in CA. 

Regarding Adonidia, there is/was.. a thread started awhile back  over on the Tropical Fruit Forum referring to someone supposedly growing one to fruiting size somewhere in San Diego County. Never saw pictures posted, and you'd likely have to dig through a few pages to find it. Would try one myself, until i succeeded,  if there.  

[IHB1979]

18 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

  My rule of thumb with such skewed sentiment is to put such thought on the back burner / ignore / don't engage list, and test/ zone push.. whatever you might call it, myself.. and draw my own conclusion(s). Sometimes things fail, other times surprise, more importantly, you gain priceless knowledge a naysayer wouldn't.. which is more valuable in life and discussion in the end.


 All other potential challenges considered, an earlier thought you shared about digging a.. say 4' x 5' x 4' sized hole and filling with a soil mix that could potentially tip the scales in favor of success has crossed my mind several times when thinking about what could be done to give a Coconut an advantage in CA. 

Regarding Adonidia, there is/was.. a thread started awhile back  over on the Tropical Fruit Forum referring to someone supposedly growing one to fruiting size somewhere in San Diego County. Never saw pictures posted, and you'd likely have to dig through a few pages to find it. Would try one myself, until i succeeded,  if there.  

Great advice. Quick example, recently I had hundreds of fresh Sabal causiarum seed with fruit still on. I asked for advice on germination, many said remove the fruit for proper germination. Of the 700 seeds, I cleaned 350 and left the fruit on 350. As of today, only 2 germinated from the seeds with the fruit removed. The seeds with the fruit left on? 60-70% germination.

I realize that the advice I received is generally accepted for palm seed germination. Getting good or bad advice isn't my point, it's about trying and learning things for yourself.

[Silas_Sancona]

51 minutes ago, IHB1979 said:

Great advice. Quick example, recently I had hundreds of fresh Sabal causiarum seed with fruit still on. I asked for advice on germination, many said remove the fruit for proper germination. Of the 700 seeds, I cleaned 350 and left the fruit on 350. As of today, only 2 germinated from the seeds with the fruit removed. The seeds with the fruit left on? 60-70% germination.

I realize that the advice I received is generally accepted for palm seed germination. Getting good or bad advice isn't my point, it's about trying and learning things for yourself.

Exactly, ..and interesting. I always had good luck with cleaned seed back in Bradenton.. never thought to test cleaned Vs. uncleaned batches though..

I mean, yea.. totally human to possess a healthy level of skepticism. Everyone should..  but if, for example, you never test a negative opinion ( your own or another's), repeatedly if necessary, or seek to dissuade anyone looking to learn for themselves,  its possible you're choosing to settle for an answer that might not be correct.  Not one to settle for ..anything..  deep perhaps but anyway,

No doubt growing coconuts in California presents lots of challenges but we've seen some level of reasonable successes ( thus far.. and no, not the Newport failure ) which slacken a bit of wind in the "impossible" side of the discussion. Will you see them lining the beaches around Santa Monica, or Oceanside.. Doubtful,   or is it... a couple more ticks up the warming scale coast-side and/ or the possibility that those areas may see less influence from the Marine Layer ( thus more heat / insolation, esp during the Summer/ warmer months) going forward might make the difference. Still, not gonna mirror what you see while in Hawaii or the Keys.. Even i realize that may be far fetched, even if the dream is a pretty sweet view. 

Another dreamy sight is Cassia Fistula, Jacaranda, and Royal Poinciana in bloom, at the same time, around the corner from the house..here in "9b" Chandler Arizona. "Impossible" ..some would believe so..

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Silas_Sancona
edit

[Moose]

A Coconut carnage Dream of Doom. Dypsis plumose loves the arid Cali climate.

[GottmitAlex]

2 minutes ago, Moose said:

A Coconut carnage Dream of Doom. Dypsis plumose loves the arid Cali climate.

Jawohl. D. Plumose love the Cali landscape, aber, Cocos do not dislike the Cali interior.

[DeletedAccount14e83d09a24f]

I don't see it very exaggerated. At a latitude of 32ºN and average highs in the coldest month above 20ºC/68F... a coconut can thrive in these conditions. 

There are some locations in southern Cali which meet these standards. The good luck of SoCal's winters is that you can have few rainy, cool days but then you can have some sunny, hot days with highs around 28ºC/82F. Being at 32-33ºN the sun UV is also stronger, which is very good for the coconuts during winters.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Alicante

[pj_orlando_z9b]

On 6/6/2018, 1:12:35, Josue Diaz said:

Bump. 

Someone posted these on the FB page. Cocos nucifera in Del Mar. 

 

Looks like a great microclimate against the wall. Nice trunk. Are the fronds slightly burned? Is that from dry air or cold?

[Matt in OC]

Here's my Hawaiian coconut that I planted out last summer in Costa Mesa. It's quite the eyesore and given that we're already well into June, I'm not holding out hope (or patience) for this guy long term. 

If you can do it, congrats, but this will be my last coconut experiment. 

[Cluster]

My 2 cents, from my observation from the cocos in CA, they may manage with walls or any other heat source(or some canopy) and/or minor protection while having good drainage. If these conditions are met then they may have a chance in a good zone. A very bad winter in the open without those conditions is most certainly the end of the coco, but if you can create a micro, have nice drainage and live in a good zone you might have a chance!

 

PS:this applies to coastal areas or inland, the Newport/PalmDesert/LaQuinta/Corona/Del Mar etc etc were wall huggers from different climates. 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Cluster

[GottmitAlex]

3 hours ago, Cluster said:

My 2 cents, from my observation from the cocos in CA, they may manage with walls or any other heat source(or some canopy) and/or minor protection while having good drainage. If these conditions are met then they may have a chance in a good zone. A very bad winter in the open without those conditions is most certainly the end of the coco, but if you can create a micro, have nice drainage and live in a good zone you might have a chance!

 

PS:this applies to coastal areas or inland, the Newport/PalmDesert/LaQuinta/Corona/Del Mar etc etc were wall huggers from different climates. 

I agree.  Although I will admit the coastal areas in our latitude 32+ have their work cut out for them due to the perennial cool weather due to fog/clouds. Those, in my opinion require more supplemental heat sources than the ones 10-25 miles inland. Since (up to a certain point) inland is warmer (in our region) due to less fog and less cloud cover. The sun is usually scorching here while in the coast, the sun usually does not penetrate the maritime cloud cover. (There are several days, of course, which it does). 

 

[Stevetoad]

I grew this magnificent specimen. Pretty sure is a Jamaican dwarf brown form  

 

[GottmitAlex]

3 hours ago, Stevetoad said:

I grew this magnificent specimen. Pretty sure is a Jamaican dwarf brown form  

 

Lol. Good one. I think location is half the battle. Btw, I also had a Jamaican tall kick the bucket. Never knew what killed it. From my paranoia, I sprayed daconil on all the surviving cocos till I left each frond white.

They're all growing. And got the Haari Papua coco to replace the Jamaican.

Here's hoping!

 

 

[Moose]

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2018‎ ‎5‎:‎04‎:‎20‎, Stevetoad said:

I grew this magnificent specimen. Pretty sure is a Jamaican dwarf brown form  

 

Typical California grown coconut.

[GottmitAlex]

 

[Moose]

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2018‎ ‎5‎:‎04‎:‎20‎, Stevetoad said:

I grew this magnificent specimen. Pretty sure is a Jamaican dwarf brown form  

 

Ouch, poor coconut

[Patrick Sheehan]

I don't really care if my California coconut lives, I'm just happy I had the wonderful existence with it. Its been a few months scince I planted it and its still going good!

[GottmitAlex]

5 hours ago, Patrick Sheehan said:

I don't really care if my California coconut lives, I'm just happy I had the wonderful existence with it. Its been a few months scince I planted it and its still going good!

Some folks are just negative.  Don't even give them the time of day. They will always criticize without ever experimenting (first hand) nor contributing anything to palms.  

 Keep zone pushing I say!!  

Please show a picture of your coconut when opportune.

Thanks

 

[Patrick Sheehan]

Here's mine 

[Jimhardy]

Maybe next time just sleep it off

[Patrick Sheehan]

My Plumeria flower just opened!!!

[rprimbs]

On 8/3/2021 at 4:34 AM, GottmitAlex said:

Some folks are just negative.  Don't even give them the time of day. They will always criticize without ever experimenting (first hand) nor contributing anything to palms.  

 Keep zone pushing I say!!  

Please show a picture of your coconut when opportune.

Thanks

 

I agree!  If somebody can succeed with a coconut in Corona -- of all places --  then it is doable!

Check out my durian.  When I first got it the dry weather was a little hard on it, and it dropped almost all of its leaves.  But now it has adjusted a bit to the dry inland weather and it is coming back nicely.  I am going to have to get it into the ground pretty soon.  But right now I am working on getting my mangosteen planted "in the ground". I am going to plant it by cutting the bottom off of the pot -- and letting it root into the ground.  I will remove the rest of the pot later.

[GottmitAlex]

This is what we're trying to achieve (and never will) in Southern California

 

[Patrick Sheehan]

On 6/20/2018 at 3:21 AM, Moose said:

Typical California grown coconut.

Typical Florida grown rhophie 

[palmsOrl]

2 hours ago, Patrick Sheehan said:

Typical Florida grown rhophie 

Wow, that palm is growing in Florida?!

 

[Jim in Los Altos]

6 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Wow, that palm is growing in Florida?!

 

I seriously doubt that. 

[Patrick Sheehan]

17 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Wow, that palm is growing in Florida?!

 

Dought it, it would look worse if it was in florida

[rprimbs]

On 8/21/2021 at 2:45 AM, GottmitAlex said:

This is what we're trying to achieve (and never will) in Southern California

 

Yeah, but coconuts grow like crazy.  How long do they stay short like that?

[GottmitAlex]

7 hours ago, rprimbs said:

Yeah, but coconuts grow like crazy.  How long do they stay short like that?

True dwarf coconuts will remain that size for a long time. 10+ years. They'll grow, but not much during that timeframe.

[Patrick Sheehan]

Lately there's been something eating my palm leaves, and I think I found the culprit