Cocos Nucifera in Monterrey, MX

[Joaco]

Nice, I will go to Xochimilco in around 2 weeks and post pictures of the cocos they sell there 

[Joaco]

How old are your coconuts? Do you have any tips on planting + care?

[Joaco]

Because the dwarfs Malays that I can buy in Xochimilco come in medium sized bags with pacific sand and they look more yellow than what they actually are. I am not sure if it’s because of nutrients deficiency because it is in the sand or what 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

3 hours ago, Joaco said:

How old are your coconuts? Do you have any tips on planting + care?

Mine is around 2-3 years old. Brought it as a seedling in 2022. You can see there's another seedling in the background. That one died almost immediately, it didn't like the heat I think.

[Joaco]

2 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Mine is around 2-3 years old. Brought it as a seedling in 2022. You can see there's another seedling in the background. That one died almost immediately, it didn't like the heat I think.

I planted mine in white Caribbean sand combined with some compost. Should I just plant it in soil next time?

[idontknowhatnametuse]

2 minutes ago, Joaco said:

Because the dwarfs Malays that I can buy in Xochimilco come in medium sized bags with pacific sand and they look more yellow than what they actually are. I am not sure if it’s because of nutrients deficiency because it is in the sand or what 

Yes, that looks like potassium deficiency, it's very common in young coconuts so I wouldn't worry too much about it. 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Just now, Joaco said:

I planted mine in white Caribbean sand combined with some compost. Should I just plant it in soil next time?

Yes, actually coconuts don't need salt, coconuts do tolerate a lot of salt but that doesn't mean they need it to survive. Salt for fertilizing is not a real thing, I accidentally killed a coconut some years ago because I thought it would grow faster with salt, and that coconut came from cuernavaca (not a coast) so the plant didn't like it obviously.

[Joaco]

I have a greenhouse that is 2mts high so not enough for a coconut to be put in for its lifetime but enough to keep it in there during the winter and plant it late winter/spring. Once I plant it outside what do you recommend me to do? Plant it in soil or sand and of curse plant it near a wall with other plants protecting it from wind/excessive sun 

and yes the coconuts that I get from Xochimilco are from Cuernavaca 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

1 minute ago, Joaco said:

I have a greenhouse that is 2mts high so not enough for a coconut to be put in for its lifetime but enough to keep it in there during the winter and plant it late winter/spring. Once I plant it outside what do you recommend me to do? Plant it in soil or sand and of curse plant it near a wall with other plants protecting it from wind/excessive sun 

If I remember correctly, I planted mine in a mix of peat moss and leaf soil (tierra de hoja). It drains fast.

[Joaco]

Here are my coconuts that I have in my garden. But I’m not so sure the variety that they are 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

8 hours ago, Joaco said:

Here are my coconuts that I have in my garden. But I’m not so sure the variety that they are 

The places you planted them in look great, they will do well with that protection for sure.

[Axel Amsterdam]

On 10/16/2024 at 3:08 PM, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Some of them are talls and some of them look like dwarves, I don't know what's the cold hardiest dwarf but there should be one that could have similar cold hardiness of a tall. Mine's doing very well, though it's not very fast because it's not in a particularly sunny spot.

Hi Alex, is that a Panama tall? I understood they are either green or bronze/caramel. 

[Axel Amsterdam]

4 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

Hi Alex, is that a Panama tall? I understood they are either green or bronze/caramel. 

Edit; i read some more about this coconut being found by you on Isla Mujeres. Is there a way of knowing this is not an Jamaican Tall? Curious to know since mine is fairly similar with the light green fronds, bronze petioles and a very large sized coconut. And would mexican tall’s have similar features at this juvenile stage?

[Joaco]

Same here im not so sure the variety that they are. Even in the coconuts that I have in my yard I have no idea what variety they are of

[idontknowhatnametuse]

On 10/28/2024 at 12:24 PM, Axel Amsterdam said:

Hi Alex, is that a Panama tall? I understood they are either green or bronze/caramel. 

There's an orange form of it too

[Joaco]

I wasn’t able to go to Xochimilco as I had a trip to Acapulco. Full of cocos there. Quite impressive how they survived these past 2 strong hurricanes that ripped through Acapulco, one with tons of wind and the other with tons of rain. Sadly some of the Royals I saw did not make it as their trunks are much less flexible than a coconut. The cocos that you regularly find here are Panama Talls that are used for landscaping.

This Royal sadly didn’t make it.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

2 hours ago, Joaco said:

I wasn’t able to go to Xochimilco as I had a trip to Acapulco. Full of cocos there. Quite impressive how they survived these past 2 strong hurricanes that ripped through Acapulco, one with tons of wind and the other with tons of rain. Sadly some of the Royals I saw did not make it as their trunks are much less flexible than a coconut. The cocos that you regularly find here are Panama Talls that are used for landscaping.

This Royal sadly didn’t make it.

How did the Elaeis in the hotel zone fair? Also, try searching for seeds. Pretty sure Cryosophila nana and Chamaedorea pochutlensis are native in the Acapulco area and they are fairly cold tolerant for mexico city.

[Joaco]

I haven’t seen the Elaeis but thanks for the info. I’ll definitely look out on it 

[Joaco]

Now there is a forum that’s in Spanish but it’s about the Cocos in Mexico City. Not mine though. 
It’s called Cocotero en la mesa central de Mexico. It didn’t let me paste the link but that’s the name, if you type it in google it will appear. 
Also an interesting thing to do is to ask Chat GPT about if you can grow coconuts in your area, what varieties does it recommend, when to plant it and how to plant it. It’s fun

[idontknowhatnametuse]

11 hours ago, Joaco said:

Now there is a forum that’s in Spanish but it’s about the Cocos in Mexico City. Not mine though. 
It’s called Cocotero en la mesa central de Mexico. It didn’t let me paste the link but that’s the name, if you type it in google it will appear. 
Also an interesting thing to do is to ask Chat GPT about if you can grow coconuts in your area, what varieties does it recommend, when to plant it and how to plant it. It’s fun

Supposedly the hardiest variety are the pacific talls, you can find them in the pacific coast of Mexico. Try searching for these as well.

[Joaco]

Yes, this Sunday I will go to Xochimilco and Cuemanco and will take pics of the palms and stuff they have over there

[Joaco]

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find any coco as they ran out! It’s amazing how fast they ran out and also because we are nearing Christmas so the “Nochebuena” plant is being chosen to sell instead of the cocos. Next time I will try to go to Cuemanco which has more variety than Madre Selva

[idontknowhatnametuse]

5 hours ago, Joaco said:

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find any coco as they ran out! It’s amazing how fast they ran out and also because we are nearing Christmas so the “Nochebuena” plant is being chosen to sell instead of the cocos. Next time I will try to go to Cuemanco which has more variety than Madre Selva

The best time to find coconuts and rare palms is in the spring when new plants arrive to the nurseries

[Joaco]

I went to Cuemanco market to buy some mango plants, lemons and I was able to get a Panama tall! Plus I ordered around 3-4 more of about 2mts tall to plant in my garden. 

[Joaco]

1 hour ago, Joaco said:

I went to Cuemanco market to buy some mango plants, lemons and I was able to get a Panama tall! Plus I ordered around 3-4 more of about 2mts tall to plant in my garden. While this little guy will remain in the greenhouse until late winter to be planted outside. Any tips? Should I change the bag because I see it’s small?

 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

3 hours ago, Joaco said:

I went to Cuemanco market to buy some mango plants, lemons and I was able to get a Panama tall! Plus I ordered around 3-4 more of about 2mts tall to plant in my garden. 

Nice score, hope it thrives in your climate.

[Joaco]

Here are some maypans and Panama talls known in Mexico as “Criollas” which I found near Cuernavaca Morelos

[idontknowhatnametuse]

3 hours ago, Joaco said:

Here are some maypans and Panama talls known in Mexico as “Criollas” which I found near Cuernavaca Morelos

They'll do good for you, right now Mexico city is warmer than Monterrey, but I recommend planting them in the spring.

[Joaco]

57 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

They'll do good for you, right now Mexico city is warmer than Monterrey, but I recommend planting them in the spring.

Thanks. Yes that’s exactly what I have planned, I will plant it in the spring with some sand and native dirt. But for now I will keep them in my greenhouse 

[Joaco]

 

 

[Joaco]

Bought some Malayan/Fiji dwarves online. I will keep them in my greenhouse until they get bigger and the weather gets better

[idontknowhatnametuse]

1 hour ago, Joaco said:

Bought some Malayan/Fiji dwarves online. I will keep them in my greenhouse until they get bigger and the weather gets better

I only recommend transplanting to a bigger temporary container because some of them have very thin leaves and if I remember well, that's a sign that the palm needs space. I did that with a small Syagrus sancona that I bought some weeks ago and now it's growing nicely. Will put it in the ground maybe next year.

[Axel Amsterdam]

The husks look different in size, especially the one in the middle. Can you show a picture of the biggest one? I recently found another big one in a store. Here it is next to my malayan gold.

[Joaco]

7 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

I only recommend transplanting to a bigger temporary container because some of them have very thin leaves and if I remember well, that's a sign that the palm needs space. I did that with a small Syagrus sancona that I bought some weeks ago and now it's growing nicely. Will put it in the ground maybe next year.

Yes thanks, the coconuts came with very little roots so I put them in these bags that I had. I will need to order bigger bags for put them in for a greater amount of time. When the spring comes I will plant some mangos, bananas and avocados I have in my greenhouse. That will clear some space in there to put in the coconuts in bigger bags.

[Joaco]

Quick update on my cocos. The Malayan one’s didn’t survive but the tall one is holding pretty good with no cold damage. 

 

Plus my Kent Mango is flowering 

[Axel Amsterdam]

9 hours ago, Joaco said:

Quick update on my cocos. The Malayan one’s didn’t survive but the tall one is holding pretty good with no cold damage. 

 

Plus my Kent Mango is flowering 

How low did it go?

[Joaco]

1 hour ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

How low did it go?

4c in the early morning for a few days. During the day the highs were around 19-23 c The Malayans were in a different sport before where they had more shade so it was cooler, when I came back from new years I saw they were suffering so I planted them  next to the tall one, unfortunately the already badly damaged palms didn’t recover. That shows the importance of a microclimate. Another example is a peach that I have in the sun still has all of its leafs green but the one that is in the more shadow area got rid of its leafs around a month and a half ago

[Axel Amsterdam]

I don’t know if this app is correct but Monterrey seems to get very cold after the weekend.

[Joaco]

5 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

I don’t know if this app is correct but Monterrey seems to get very cold after the weekend.

Yes, that’s right. There looks to be a cold front coming down from like the Midwest to Mexico 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

5 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

I don’t know if this app is correct but Monterrey seems to get very cold after the weekend.

Yes, I hope it's not as cold as it's forecasted. This used to be very rare. Now we get a freeze every year after 2021.