Germinating a coconut

[NickJames]

Sorry if this has been asked before but…

How would you best germinate a fallen coconut?

should it be brown when you attempt to ‘plant’ it?

There are many fallen coconuts near my Pine Island property and I would love to just stick them all over the lot and see what happens. 

[PalmatierMeg]

If they are viable they will germinate right where they fall. If I were you I'd collect and place them where you want them. Dig a depression in the ground about half the depth of the nut, set coconut flat side down (yes, one side is flatter than the other 2) in the depression then replace dirt so nut is half buried. Leave them to nature's summer mercies. Check on them each time you come back. I found coconuts waste a lot of energy putting out non-viable seeds. You have to be patient. Often, the nut sends down roots long before you see a leaf spike so what you think hasn't germinated may be working underground.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

2 hours ago, NickJames said:

Sorry if this has been asked before but…

How would you best germinate a fallen coconut?

should it be brown when you attempt to ‘plant’ it?

There are many fallen coconuts near my Pine Island property and I would love to just stick them all over the lot and see what happens. 

Welcome to the club!  It is fun and fascinating to grow Coconut Palms from the nuts, but it does take patience, which is something our modern society lacks a lot of.  I have had ones I collect from the beach that wash up here in Texas take from as little as 1.5 months to as long as 11 months to germinate, but usually 3 to 6 months is normal.  Yes, the husks do have to be brown for them to sprout.  The nuts are fully ripe when the husks are full grown and brown.  If you move them from where they have fallen, make sure you set them down with the same side up as you found them.  This is how I sprout the beach ones I find, as you do not want to turn over a coconut on another side that has already started sprouting down inside the husk before it pops through the outer layer.  Meg is right about the roots.  Some varieties send out quite an extensive root system before the first leaf spike appears through the top of husk, but I have seen some that already have their first leaf opening up before any roots emerge out of the bottom of the husk.  I think it depends on the variety, and there are many varieties.

John

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

I have seen some that already have their first leaf opening up before any roots emerge out of the bottom of the husk.  I think it depends on the variety, and there are many varieties.

John

Interesting John.  I received some from a neighbor who brought them back from Miami in October.  All had a leaf started but this one was the only one that had no roots.  It's doing fine now up to about 5' overall height.

 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Interesting John.  I received some from a neighbor who brought them back from Miami in October.  All had a leaf started but this one was the only one that had no roots.  It's doing fine now up to about 5' overall height.

 

Hi Jon,

You didn't lose power up there in San Antonio back in February?  How did you protect them during the Big Freeze?  Anyway, it is probably a Jamaican Tall.  I think the Jamaican Talls often sprout at the top, putting out their first leaf before putting out any roots through the bottom of the husk, which makes me wonder how they got established hundreds of years ago along the beaches of the Caribbean without first putting down roots before a monthly highest tide or storm surge washed them back out to sea.  Malayans on the other hand seem to put out a foot to foot and a half of roots out of the bottom of the husk before any sprout comes out of the top of the husk, as is the case with the beach nuts I collect here that appear to sprout as pure Green, Golden, and Yellow Malayans.  The overwhelming majority of beach nuts I get to sprout turn out to be Maymex Hybrids (crosses between Golden or Green Malayan Dwarfs and Mexican Talls), with a few turning out to be Green Malayans and Golden Malayans, and very few turning out to be Yellow Malayans, and pure Mexican Talls.

John

[NickJames]

Thanks all! By chance, I actually did just as @PalmatierMeg instructed with a fallen brown coconut. It came from the very tall coconuts planted two properties down from mine in Bokeelia. So, we will see! 

[Fusca]

17 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hi Jon,

You didn't lose power up there in San Antonio back in February?  How did you protect them during the Big Freeze?  Anyway, it is probably a Jamaican Tall.  I think the Jamaican Talls often sprout at the top, putting out their first leaf before putting out any roots through the bottom of the husk, which makes me wonder how they got established hundreds of years ago along the beaches of the Caribbean without first putting down roots before a monthly highest tide or storm surge washed them back out to sea.  Malayans on the other hand seem to put out a foot to foot and a half of roots out of the bottom of the husk before any sprout comes out of the top of the husk, as is the case with the beach nuts I collect here that appear to sprout as pure Green, Golden, and Yellow Malayans.  The overwhelming majority of beach nuts I get to sprout turn out to be Maymex Hybrids (crosses between Golden or Green Malayan Dwarfs and Mexican Talls), with a few turning out to be Green Malayans and Golden Malayans, and very few turning out to be Yellow Malayans, and pure Mexican Talls.

John

Hey John, 

I thought it was a Jamaican Tall based on my neighbor's description.  Thanks for the confirmation.  I brought them indoors during the freeze and thankfully never lost power.  Unfortunately this one I posted was the only survivor.  I think the ones that had started roots when I got them spent too much time out of the soil during the 2-3 day drive.  They never grew much at all and when I took them out of the container and they hadn't grown any additional roots.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Hey John, 

I thought it was a Jamaican Tall based on my neighbor's description.  Thanks for the confirmation.  I brought them indoors during the freeze and thankfully never lost power.  Unfortunately this one I posted was the only survivor.  I think the ones that had started roots when I got them spent too much time out of the soil during the 2-3 day drive.  They never grew much at all and when I took them out of the container and they hadn't grown any additional roots.

Hey Jon,

I found out the hard way a few years ago, that apparently young Jamaican Talls don't like their roots messed with, or they can quickly decline and die.  This was confirmed to me by someone, I think here on Palmtalk back then too.  So, if they have any roots at all emerging from the bottom of the husk, I think you may be out of luck when it comes to successfully transplanting them.  I guess the only way to deal with them is to get unsprouted viable nuts and plant them in a 7 gal. pot and wait for them to sprout, then plant them in the ground when they are about 8 ft. tall in overall height, or bump them up to a bigger pot then.  Maybe you can get some that have just barely sent up a sprout at the top of the husk, but have not put out any roots at the bottom yet, and quickly pot them up in a 7 gal. pot, then when they are 8ft. tall, either plant them in the ground, or bump them up to a larger pot.  I say put them immediately in a 7 gal. pot instead of a 3 gal. or 5 gal. pot because like I said, they apparently don't like their roots messed with at all when they are young, so a 7 gal. pot would give them ample growing room to get up to that height before transplanting them.  With my sprouted beach nuts that I plant in 3 gal. or 5 gal. size pots, I am usually transplanting them to either a 7 gal. or 10 gal. size pot when the palms are about 3 ft. to 4 ft. tall because they are already getting root bound by then in the smaller pots.  With most varieties, this is not an issue, even if you break off a few of the lower roots in the transplanting process, but with the Jamaicans, it can be a killer for them when they are that small.

John