Coconut safety nets

[miamicuse]

Curious if anyone has any experience on these safety nets that catches coconuts so they do not fall and crack skulls open.

How are these installed - using a big truck with a lift bucket?

Are they useful?  Obviously you are comparing the hassle/cost of hiring a tree service to come remove the coconuts from the top several times a year vs using this, but once it catches a bunch of coconuts you still have to hire the same people to remove the coconuts caught in the net?  Do does it reduce the need to service from say 3 times a year to once a year?

What about dropped fronds?  Don't they get caught in these nets too?  So you will have fronds in the net or tilting the net?

This ad claims that "80% of coconut tree lovers use these"...can it be true?  80%!  Anyone here use it?

[PalmatierMeg]

Nuts. I've never seen those contraptions before anywhere. Do people really fret themselves into frenzy over coconut fruit? I suspect native Floridians don't worry about them but get a chuckle out of all the Yankees having palpitations about them. BTW, I hail from north of the FL/GA line so I am a Yankee too. But when I moved here 30 years ago I worried more about LY than falling coconuts. I have coconut palms scattered around the yard and never feared them. Then again, I don't camp out day and night beneath our huge Panama Tall to tempt karma. But I did have a royal sheath drop about 10' from me while I was watering in the Garden Lot today.

[Hardypalms]

Meg, I almost got killed by one in the Pacific where i was in the navy.

I laid on that island’s beach in French Polynesia and there was only a couple of locals with me. It was so beautiful. I was laying on my towel and suddenly i heard that loud noise and looked, and that huge coconut had fallen like 5 feet from me.  The locals look towards me (Not like laughing), one got up, grabbed the coco and they both ate it. (I think when they saw i wasnt grabbing it, they did). It is a funny joke but when someone gets killed it’s not funny.

Pat

[bubba]

May be a better idea to trim the nuts before hurricane season?

[GottmitAlex]

Tis true

[Little Tex]

This is the ugliest, goofiest piece of chinese drop-shipped crap I’ve seen in a while. The writer of the add clearly has no idea what they are talking about and are just fishing for a quick buck from some retired folks moving to Miami metro. It is probably so much more work to maintain this net then to hack off the baby nuts. Also why of all colors the most hideous bright toothpaste color. 

[SeanK]

4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Nuts. I've never seen those contraptions before anywhere. Do people really fret themselves into frenzy over coconut fruit? I suspect native Floridians don't worry about them but get a chuckle out of all the Yankees having palpitations about them. BTW, I hail from north of the FL/GA line so I am a Yankee too. But when I moved here 30 years ago I worried more about LY than falling coconuts. I have coconut palms scattered around the yard and never feared them. Then again, I don't camp out day and night beneath our huge Panama Tall to tempt karma. But I did have a royal sheath drop about 10' from me while I was watering in the Garden Lot today.

Actually, the City of Miami hasn't planted coconut palms in at least two years. It was decided that the risk of injury to falling fruit left the city open to lawsuits. 

[JLM]

8 hours ago, miamicuse said:

Curious if anyone has any experience on these safety nets that catches coconuts so they do not fall and crack skulls open.

How are these installed - using a big truck with a lift bucket?

Are they useful?  Obviously you are comparing the hassle/cost of hiring a tree service to come remove the coconuts from the top several times a year vs using this, but once it catches a bunch of coconuts you still have to hire the same people to remove the coconuts caught in the net?  Do does it reduce the need to service from say 3 times a year to once a year?

What about dropped fronds?  Don't they get caught in these nets too?  So you will have fronds in the net or tilting the net?

This ad claims that "80% of coconut tree lovers use these"...can it be true?  80%!  Anyone here use it?

If "80%" of people used those things, they would be literally everywhere. I have never seen one, i can almost guarantee you only 1% of people use these, if even that. It would benefit you much more to just cut them off before they develop unless you want the fruit.

Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick baaaaaiiiiiit!!

[bubba]

There are so many coconut palms in Miami, a decision to no longer plant coconuts for “liability purposes” is laughable. The coconut is naturalized in Miami and does not need to be planted to proliferate.

Should the City of Miami decide to attempt to alleviate liability from flying coconuts, it is relatively simple to remove them from the palm. Liability regarding flying coconuts would only be greatly enhanced by the acquisition of a jury rigged junk contraption and squirreling it around a coconut palm. Do the Einstein thought experiment on where that brilliant expenditure would travel. 

 

 

[miamicuse]

My issue is I have two coconut trees over 40' tall overhanging my swimming pool.  They give the area a real tropical feel.  Both tree arches over the pool, and one of them I have a rope on the palm trunk to swing over the pool.  I don't want to cut them down.

On the other hand, coconuts dropped have broken the concrete pool coping many times, repaired many times.  It breaks concrete.  It hasn't fallen on someone yet, knock wood.

I hired a tree service to come remove the coconuts, using a bucket truck at $2000 each time.  Seems 4 months later I have to do it again.  I don't want to have to budget $6000 a year to just trim coconuts.  If there is a way I can do one cut a year I would, but they grow continuously.

[Little Tex]

16 minutes ago, miamicuse said:

My issue is I have two coconut trees over 40' tall overhanging my swimming pool.  They give the area a real tropical feel.  Both tree arches over the pool, and one of them I have a rope on the palm trunk to swing over the pool.  I don't want to cut them down.

On the other hand, coconuts dropped have broken the concrete pool coping many times, repaired many times.  It breaks concrete.  It hasn't fallen on someone yet, knock wood.

I hired a tree service to come remove the coconuts, using a bucket truck at $2000 each time.  Seems 4 months later I have to do it again.  I don't want to have to budget $6000 a year to just trim coconuts.  If there is a way I can do one cut a year I would, but they grow continuously.

Shoot em dead!

[Looking Glass]

21 minutes ago, miamicuse said:

My issue is I have two coconut trees over 40' tall overhanging my swimming pool.  They give the area a real tropical feel.  Both tree arches over the pool, and one of them I have a rope on the palm trunk to swing over the pool.  I don't want to cut them down.

On the other hand, coconuts dropped have broken the concrete pool coping many times, repaired many times.  It breaks concrete.  It hasn't fallen on someone yet, knock wood.

I hired a tree service to come remove the coconuts, using a bucket truck at $2000 each time.  Seems 4 months later I have to do it again.  I don't want to have to budget $6000 a year to just trim coconuts.  If there is a way I can do one cut a year I would, but they grow continuously.

They aren’t a great tree for many spots down here.   They grow fast and big here and can require thousands of dollars of maintenance per year depending on where you put them.   And they are super common.   I can see planting them up against the canal or in a far corner of the yard, but I would never consider one where I am.   Power was blown out for hours tonight by a neighbor’s coco fronds hitting the power lines….  again.   

[Patrick]

You know what would be cool? If you could do like an amusement park or something and have the net, but then make all the cocnuts funnel down to one opening on the net where they could fall to the ground, and then you could throw them up again for another 3 pointer... Or, just simply not have your vacation be over.

 

I don't like the wording on the advertisement. Seems "scammy".

[PalmsandLiszt]

Those are absolutely hideous. Why bother having the palm at all if you're going to permanently afflict it with fluorescent green netting? Isn't the purpose of growing it for it to look nice? If the netting were a more neutral shade such as brown then it might be much less offensive to the eye.

As I pointed out somewhere else on here, the chances of being killed by a falling coconut in the US are more than an order of magnitude lower than the chances of being killed by lightening-strike, so I'd prioritize building a Faraday cage around your house ahead of worrying about falling coconuts.

[miamicuse]

15 minutes ago, PalmsandLiszt said:

As I pointed out somewhere else on here, the chances of being killed by a falling coconut in the US are more than an order of magnitude lower than the chances of being killed by lightening-strike, so I'd prioritize building a Faraday cage around your house ahead of worrying about falling coconuts.

It depends.  If you are talking about a random person walking right under a random coconut palm the chance a fallen coconut dropping on his/her head is low.

In my case I have two coconut palms right over my pool.  I only use half the pool when I have overhanging coconuts.  One time I got out of the pool to dry up and I heard bam bam bam and turned around I saw the water in the pool rising and falling like crazy it was just a wind gusts and five coconuts fell down from 40' above at the same time.   This is not like worrying about lighting strikes.  I do hire a tree service to come remove the nuts and I don't mind doing it once a year but several times a year gets too expensive at 2k each time.

[GottmitAlex]

I'd be more concerned of a leaf dropping than a coconut. 

 

[miamicuse]

10 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

I'd be more concerned of a leaf dropping than a coconut. 

 

Really?  I have been hit by a fallen coconut palm frond, it was nothing.

I don't think I would survive a coconut coming down from 40+ feet.  The ones that hit the pool edges broke open the concrete deck.

[PalmsandLiszt]

3 hours ago, miamicuse said:

It depends.  If you are talking about a random person walking right under a random coconut palm the chance a fallen coconut dropping on his/her head is low.

In my case I have two coconut palms right over my pool.  I only use half the pool when I have overhanging coconuts.  One time I got out of the pool to dry up and I heard bam bam bam and turned around I saw the water in the pool rising and falling like crazy it was just a wind gusts and five coconuts fell down from 40' above at the same time.   This is not like worrying about lighting strikes.  I do hire a tree service to come remove the nuts and I don't mind doing it once a year but several times a year gets too expensive at 2k each time.

The statistics seem to show that deaths by coconuts are extremely rare. In your case, you have grown your coconuts over somewhere you are frequently under; that obviously increases you risk. But the risk, in general, is still very low. Not growing coconuts directly over places where you spend a lot of time would mitigate this risk. Unlike lightning strikes we can control for this, and it seems like most people do, hence the statistics.

[PalmatierMeg]

A person is more likely to be rear-ended by a pickup truck driving down his street than conked by a coconut walking through his yard. Given human nature, after installing these monstrosities this person will forget about them, not bother pay someone to empty them or be too fearful of heights to empty them. The nets collect coconuts while FL sun, sea air and hurricanes cook them until one day they fail and drop dozens of nuts en masse onto anything and everything below. What was a 1 in 10,000 possibility becomes inevitability. Can’t blame a coconut palm for doing what coconut palms do. Better to cut them down and never plant more. Never stop looking up wherever you walk.

Kudos to Miami for banning them. What at joke.

[Looking Glass]

In the general population, the chance of getting hit by lightening is small.   The probability of this happening goes way up if you stand on an open hilltop during a thunderstorm with a metal rod held over your head every day.   Turns out, the same thing happens with coconut related injuries if you live under coconut trees.   

Coconut palm-related injuries in the Pacific Islands
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11167595/

Edited March 5, 2023 by Looking Glass

[ZPalms]

I'd be more terrified to know a royal palm leaf is about to drop

Edited March 5, 2023 by ZPalms

[PalmatierMeg]

48 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

I'd be more terrified to know a royal palm leaf is about to drop

Royals pack more punch per sq ft with their breakaway leaves. I have a number of those, too. I don’t camp out beneath them, either. And never plant something you care about within a 15’ radius of a royal trunk.

[mnorell]

Coconuts bring the world gifts far greater than its inherent dangers. I had loads of Cocos at our place in the Keys and never had an issue, and never worried about it, either. Roystonea leaves, on the other hand...watch out!!! Funny if that's true that Miami wants to stop planting Cocos, yet they plant Roystonea everywhere, including right next to roadways and above parked cars. I've had mammoth Roystonea leaves crash down near me and that had me much more scared than any coconut! Also, I do believe that most coconut-related deaths in the world historically have been from mothers in tropical countries/oceania laying their babies to nap unwittingly under a coconut tree...without looking up first to assess. Also, coconuts usually drop from trees when they are ready to germinate, after the water in the seed (which gives most of the weight to developing coconuts) is mostly gone. A seed-nut is much lighter than a water-nut, which must be manually severed from the tree (and coconuts are not easy to separate when they are that young). It does happen that a heavy nut falls prematurely, and certainly has killed adults here and there, but I think it is really overblown. 

As Meg said above, if you're terrified of the sky falling because of your coconut trees, don't plant them in the first place. Or plant something like a red spicata, which have significantly smaller fruits. I'm sure more people are killed by falling branches from oaks and other trees than from the seeds of Cocos nucifera...I have witnessed a large pecan tree snap in two and come crashing down (luckily into an empty lot) and also a friend nearly killed when a mammoth pin-oak/water-oak fell over and smashed her house. We don't usually have to worry about Cocos nucifera falling over on people's houses. So the moral here...try to make intelligent planting decisions, be aware of your surroundings, live defensively but in moderation, and try not to focus your anxieties on a singular perceived danger in the world around you. Oh, and don't park your car under a royal palm.

[ZPalms]

Interesting if coconuts are being stopped being planted because the palms are very much apart of the tourism and vacationing part of Miami

I say put up plaque to warn pedestrians of dangers being under fruiting coconuts 😂

Edited March 6, 2023 by ZPalms

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:55 AM, miamicuse said:

Curious if anyone has any experience on these safety nets that catches coconuts so they do not fall and crack skulls open.

How are these installed - using a big truck with a lift bucket?

Are they useful?  Obviously you are comparing the hassle/cost of hiring a tree service to come remove the coconuts from the top several times a year vs using this, but once it catches a bunch of coconuts you still have to hire the same people to remove the coconuts caught in the net?  Do does it reduce the need to service from say 3 times a year to once a year?

What about dropped fronds?  Don't they get caught in these nets too?  So you will have fronds in the net or tilting the net?

This ad claims that "80% of coconut tree lovers use these"...can it be true?  80%!  Anyone here use it?

What an UTTERLY ABSURD THING to use on the MOST BEAUTIFUL Trees in the World!!!  What a TOTAL Waste of Money!!!  And it actually takes away from the beauty of the palms.  Also, trimming off nuts at all on a regular basis is so overrated, and unnecessary.  I know of no actual documented case anywhere in the World where a person has actually been killed, or even seriously injured by a "falling" coconut.  I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture, 39 years of horticultural experience (many of those years studying and growing Coconut Palms), and about 25 years of landscaping experience, so I am here to tell you that Palm Trimming in and of itself is such a FRAUDULENT SCAM sold as a total hyped up Bill of Goods to the public in palm growing areas!!!  Coconut Palms, just as ALL palms, always look their BEST when they have their full round crown of leaves on them and full of seeds!!!

John

[bubba]

This thread is trending towards insanity! First someone is taking you for a ride if you are paying 4-6 K every quarter to bring in a bucket truck to remove your coconuts. Most municipalities remove these on their own dime. If that is not the case with you, then I would recommend that you seek out folks in your area, who do it for free in exchange for the coconut, which they thereafter sell ( coconut water and fruit).

Should matters of this sort become so disturbing, I would recommend making a decision to stay inside at all times. Beyond flying coconuts, there are many horrible things that happen in the great wide open. Too much time outside should be considered highly risky? There are so many potential situations that entail grave possibilities that it boggles the mind. It is an endless, deep and very scary rabbit hole… I apologize in advance for the absurd nature of this post but I truly find this kind of thinking beyond disturbing!

 

 

 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On 3/4/2023 at 5:54 PM, SeanK said:

Actually, the City of Miami hasn't planted coconut palms in at least two years. It was decided that the risk of injury to falling fruit left the city open to lawsuits. 

Absurd!!!  I lived in South Florida for two years, traveled twice to the Florida Keys when I was a boy, and traveled to the Caribbean 3 times when I was younger, and have never once heard of any problems from falling coconuts!!!

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

20 hours ago, PalmsandLiszt said:

Those are absolutely hideous. Why bother having the palm at all if you're going to permanently afflict it with fluorescent green netting? Isn't the purpose of growing it for it to look nice? If the netting were a more neutral shade such as brown then it might be much less offensive to the eye.

As I pointed out somewhere else on here, the chances of being killed by a falling coconut in the US are more than an order of magnitude lower than the chances of being killed by lightening-strike, so I'd prioritize building a Faraday cage around your house ahead of worrying about falling coconuts.

Well said.  I am 53 years old, lived in South Florida for 2 years in the early 2000's, traveled twice to the Florida Keys as a boy before then, and traveled 3 times to the Caribbean in my youth, and have NEVER heard of one single case of a person being killed, or even seriously injured by a falling coconut.  They are the MOST BEAUTIFUL Tree in the World and look their BEST with a full round crown of leaves, and lots of nuts on them!!!

John

[Looking Glass]

I agree, it’s rare, unless you plan on hanging out under coconut trees full of fruit.  Palm related injures are common here.  Mostly from pruning tools, spine punctures, falls, and distantly from falling fronds though.   Never heard of a coconut injury, but if it’s cracking concrete around the pool, it’s possible.  

Here’s a study that had two patients requiring brain surgery after being hit by falling coconuts, two others died.  In South Florida, if you are hit by a falling coconut, you are getting paid.  It’s a very litigious area.   I have a couple of attorney friends that were concerned I was planting coconuts when they found out about my palm hobby.   
We all love palms here, but coconuts are just a generic yard tree here.  Non-palm people complain at work about nut-maintenance all the time. 

Injuries due to falling coconuts.  J Trauma 1984.  

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6502774/

Edited March 6, 2023 by Looking Glass

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

12 hours ago, ZPalms said:

I'd be more terrified to know a royal palm leaf is about to drop

Yeah, I LOVE Royal Palms in addition to Coconut Palms, but those monstrous leaves are certainly something to watch out for when they drop!!!

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

2 hours ago, ZPalms said:

Interesting if coconuts are being stopped being planted because the palms are very much apart of the tourism and vacationing part of Miami

I say put up plaque to warn pedestrians of dangers being under fruiting coconuts 😂

Yes, the Coconut Palm more so than any other tree or plant in the World is the epitome of the Tropics!!!  To stop planting them would be the same as Miami saying they will no longer advertise themselves as a Tropical Vacation destination!!!  It would be like Hawaii no longer planting Coconut Palms........ABSURD!!!  And for any perceived liability reasons, just post some signs to beware of an occasional falling coconut.

John

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hmmm.......  Me thinks some VERY IGNORANT Yankees have moved to Florida and are afraid of the Boogeyman Coconut Monster, LOL!!!  It reminds me of a Jerk I met when I lived in South Florida 21 years ago.  He was from Up North in Yankeetown, New York, or New Jersey, as I recall, and he DIDN'T like palm trees at all......... then WHY THE HELL Move To a Palm Paradise Like South Florida, rather than moving furhter north to Canada???

John

[PalmsandLiszt]

3 hours ago, bubba said:

This thread is trending towards insanity! First someone is taking you for a ride if you are paying 4-6 K every quarter to bring in a bucket truck to remove your coconuts. Most municipalities remove these on their own dime. If that is not the case with you, then I would recommend that you seek out folks in your area, who do it for free in exchange for the coconut, which they thereafter sell ( coconut water and fruit).

I was thinking just this. Why on earth should it cost $2k to remove a few coconuts? You just need a ladder (a few hundred dollars at most, and it is re-useable) and a tree saw (<$100, ditto). If you don't feel physically capable of doing it yourself, ask a friend or relative. It will probably take less than 15 minutes. If the coconut industry had to pay $2k to harvest every tree, coconuts would be considerably more expensive than beluga caviar. They are obviously not, so there is some major profiteering going on here by the tree surgery/maintenance company in question. It would be rather like a company charging $2k to clean an attic window of a normal house.

[bubba]

In the words of PT Barnum:

”There is a sucker born every second”!

[PalmatierMeg]

11 hours ago, bubba said:

This thread is trending towards insanity! First someone is taking you for a ride if you are paying 4-6 K every quarter to bring in a bucket truck to remove your coconuts. Most municipalities remove these on their own dime. If that is not the case with you, then I would recommend that you seek out folks in your area, who do it for free in exchange for the coconut, which they thereafter sell ( coconut water and fruit).

Should matters of this sort become so disturbing, I would recommend making a decision to stay inside at all times. Beyond flying coconuts, there are many horrible things that happen in the great wide open. Too much time outside should be considered highly risky? There are so many potential situations that entail grave possibilities that it boggles the mind. It is an endless, deep and very scary rabbit hole… I apologize in advance for the absurd nature of this post but I truly find this kind of thinking beyond disturbing!

 

 

 

Insane but also hysterically funny - unless you have a phobia about coconuts

[GottmitAlex]

 

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, GottmitAlex said:

 

 

 

Alex, I love it! What delightful insanity. Thanks for making my day.

[sonoranfans]

On 3/5/2023 at 2:08 AM, miamicuse said:

It depends.  If you are talking about a random person walking right under a random coconut palm the chance a fallen coconut dropping on his/her head is low.

In my case I have two coconut palms right over my pool.  I only use half the pool when I have overhanging coconuts.  One time I got out of the pool to dry up and I heard bam bam bam and turned around I saw the water in the pool rising and falling like crazy it was just a wind gusts and five coconuts fell down from 40' above at the same time.   This is not like worrying about lighting strikes.  I do hire a tree service to come remove the nuts and I don't mind doing it once a year but several times a year gets too expensive at 2k each time.

this is correct, the chances of people in  48 states is zero, probably florida and hawaii are the only places and in florida its a small fraction of the state.  The chances of being attacked by a bear are also very low in most big cities, but if you are camping out in bear country the risk rises.  For coconuts either give them  wide path or wear a motorcycle helmet.  I have two royals that drop crownshafts that are almost 7' long, and its a "whump" that is heard inside the house with windows closed and TV on.  When I walk under those royals I dont stand around and I always know if leaves are dying or crownshafts peeling that I will walk faster.  The "coconut catch basket" will have to be emptied and then reset as the tree grows.  If it gets full how close is it to failure.  It cold dump a pile all at once if it fails.  Thing about my royals is I can tell when they are close to falling, (drying leaves discolored crownshaft) unless there is a big wind that accelerates things.  In big winds dont stand under royals or coconuts either I guess.

[Looking Glass]

The normal time for big trim jobs in my neighborhood is the day before monthly bulk trash pick up.  The coconuts just get piled up by the road, scooped up with everything else, and carted off to the dump I presume.   Every other house has a couple of coconut trees around here.  Junk scavengers and metal scrappers drive around helping themselves to various roadside items, but the coconuts remain.   Bucket trucks can run $500 to trim a tree here, but if they are working nearby, you can walk over and sometimes they’ll swing by for $250-300 if it’s an easy job.  People at work use random uninsured guys with spike shoes to climb the tree for cheap….  Not great for the tree though.  

[SeanK]

www.MiamiHerald.com/news/local/community/Miami-Dade/Article71672777.html