Is there a way to encourage coconuts to sprout roots?

[PhilippineExpat]

There are a lot of coconuts around my house and the coconuts often sprout leaves. The issue is, many of them don't sprout roots and die. My neighbors say to put those coconuts on top of the ground in the shade and wait to see if roots will come out. However, I've seen these coconuts often never sprout roots and die. Pictured are 2 coconuts we have right now. Is there anything we can do to encourage them to sprout roots? Should we plant them in the ground?

Also, as an aside, we found both of these coconuts below the same tall green coconut. Is there a reason the one on the left is a little gold? Is it maybe a hybrid? There are golden coconuts in the local area. 

[GottmitAlex]

Survival of the fittest. No Joke. Even in habitat, many mature coconuts which drop from the palm never make it.  Sometimes even with roots sticking out and a considerable sprout protruding the husk, the seedling dies.

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by GottmitAlex

[Steve Mac]

I don't know mate, I am in Sydney, Aus. what would I know about coconuts?

But I seems to me that burying them 3/4 would not hurt, and it may help.

Who knows? try it and tell us.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

I have received some sprouted nuts sent to me from Florida over the years, and a few from Hawaii that didn't have any roots protruding from the bottom of the husk.  I would plant them immediately in 3 gal. to 5 gal. size pots depending on the size of the husk.  Most of them made it and did fine, and within a few months would have roots starting to protrude from the holes at the bottom of the pots.  To keep them from rooting to to the ground through the bottom of the pots, I would set the pots on concrete stepping stones, or set them at the back part of the driveway where I don't park at.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

You could just go ahead and plant yours straight into the ground since you don't have to worry about protecting them in the wintertime when they are young.

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

I have had great success taking a pile of mature brown coconuts and burying them in mulch. 

[NOT A TA]

15 hours ago, PhilippineExpat said:

Pictured are 2 coconuts we have right now. Is there anything we can do to encourage them to sprout roots? Should we plant them in the ground?

Yes, put them on the ground in the shade and water them, keep the soil wet. Buried 1/2 way is better than sitting on top of the soil surface because the lower part of the shell won't dry out. 

If you want to try some mature nuts that have recently dropped (without sprout). Make a saw cut into the husk where you want the roots to come out (but not through the endocarp) then plant the seed 1/2 in soil in a mostly or all shade area and water regularly. I would not try the saw cut on the ones you already have that have sprouted because you might cut through a root trying to escape. See pic below showing saw cut slot. I've found making the cut speeds up root development, currently have a couple experiments to try and determine how much faster root development is. Should have results pretty soon and I'll post them in my coconut experiments thread.

Bottom pic is a different coconut germination experiment but gives you an idea of how deep to set them for germination. NOTE: If you are leaving them in the ground where you germinate them start with the whole coconut below soil level and 1/2 in soil. So the coconut is sitting in a dished out area but 1/2 covered with soil. Then after the seedling has grown about a year fill in the soil completely covering the nut and leveling soil with surrounding area.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I remember an old coconut nurseryman used to lay out hundreds of coconuts on blachtop pavement in full sun and then cover them with tree mulch or saw dust.  Then another layer of nuts and sawdust, and finally a third layer of nuts and sawdust.  The whole thing was about 15'x20' and 2'-3' tall.  The sawdust got hot as it decomposed and if it was dry he would water it.

 

As each sprout germinated and poked its leaves above the surface, he would snatch them out roots and all, and plant them in his field.

 

Water, heat and full sun.  And something to grow it in.

[NOT A TA]

I think the key to the success of the farmer  @Jerry@TreeZoo referred to might be that although the germination procedure was carried out in full sun the nuts weren't actually being hit by direct sunlight. In other experiments I've done the past several years where the nuts were in full sun germination numbers went down by quite a bit. Might be due to the husk drying out making it harder for the sprout to pop through? In the farmers germination technique the sunlight wouldn't hit the husk directly even though the procedure was carried out in a full sun area. I have coconuts that were started in full sun area but were buried over a foot below ground level. They took much longer to sprout but did.

[PhilippineExpat]

18 hours ago, NOT A TA said:

Yes, put them on the ground in the shade and water them, keep the soil wet. Buried 1/2 way is better than sitting on top of the soil surface because the lower part of the shell won't dry out. 

If you want to try some mature nuts that have recently dropped (without sprout). Make a saw cut into the husk where you want the roots to come out (but not through the endocarp) then plant the seed 1/2 in soil in a mostly or all shade area and water regularly. I would not try the saw cut on the ones you already have that have sprouted because you might cut through a root trying to escape. See pic below showing saw cut slot. I've found making the cut speeds up root development, currently have a couple experiments to try and determine how much faster root development is. Should have results pretty soon and I'll post them in my coconut experiments thread.

Bottom pic is a different coconut germination experiment but gives you an idea of how deep to set them for germination. NOTE: If you are leaving them in the ground where you germinate them start with the whole coconut below soil level and 1/2 in soil. So the coconut is sitting in a dished out area but 1/2 covered with soil. Then after the seedling has grown about a year fill in the soil completely covering the nut and leveling soil with surrounding area.

Wow thanks so much for the detailed response! I think we will put our 2 coconuts in pots so we can keep them moist and in shade. Rainy season starts in 2 months, so it'd be nice if they have roots by then and then we can stick them in the ground. 

[NOT A TA]

34 minutes ago, PhilippineExpat said:

I think we will put our 2 coconuts in pots so we can keep them moist and in shade. Rainy season starts in 2 months, so it'd be nice if they have roots by then and then we can stick them in the ground. 

If you use growers pots like this you can sacrifice the pot by cutting them up so you don't damage roots when you want to plant. Keep the pots on a hard surface or the roots will grow through drainage holes and root into the ground. I use old boards, pieces of flooring tile or whatever's handy if I want to put the pots somewhere other than on patios, walks, driveways etc.

Edit: This one was started in complete darkness in attic during winter months. Just under 4 months to sprout through dry (but not sun dried) husk. Just soil was kept damp.

[PhilippineExpat]

On 4/20/2020 at 12:10 AM, NOT A TA said:

If you use growers pots like this you can sacrifice the pot by cutting them up so you don't damage roots when you want to plant. Keep the pots on a hard surface or the roots will grow through drainage holes and root into the ground. I use old boards, pieces of flooring tile or whatever's handy if I want to put the pots somewhere other than on patios, walks, driveways etc.

Yeah we ended up putting them in biodegradable pots, more like plastic sacks. We can plant the pots right into the ground, but I think it takes a long time for them to degrade so we will probably try to cut them off as gently as possible. We placed one of the coconut pots on top of some rocks in the spot where we intend to plant it (it has dappled shade all day). Once the rainy season starts in June we will plant it in the ground unless we see the roots coming out before then. As for the other one, we plan to plant it in a full sun spot so we are definitely waiting for rainy season to put it in the ground. 

[redant]

On 4/19/2020 at 9:37 AM, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

I remember an old coconut nurseryman used to lay out hundreds of coconuts on blachtop pavement in full sun and then cover them with tree mulch or saw dust.  Then another layer of nuts and sawdust, and finally a third layer of nuts and sawdust.  The whole thing was about 15'x20' and 2'-3' tall.  The sawdust got hot as it decomposed and if it was dry he would water it.

 

As each sprout germinated and poked its leaves above the surface, he would snatch them out roots and all, and plant them in his field.

 

Water, heat and full sun.  And something to grow it in.

I put them in very large black nursery pots, cover with horse poo, then cover in black plastic and let sit in the sun. They love warmth to pop.