San Diego Coconut Trees

[SouthernCATropicals]

I’ll document my SoCal coconut tree journey here.

Getting anything bigger than a shriveled up coconut sprout in California is almost impossible for a variety of reasons so I ordered 3 coconut sprouts. I currently have 3 coconuts of unknown varieties.  The first was “front yard coconut”This is the earliest photo I have of it but it came in August 2023 half dead with one greenish leaf. This is it now dec 18 2023. It has grown but the growth has been quite slow and undramatic. When I transferred it into the ground in august it really had no roots at all. I’ve read that they eat their coconut for a while but that was strange to see I’ve been fertilizing nothing. Hopefully it has roots not 4 months later. Even now in December it is pushing out a new leaf.it is north facing up against a fence but will look very nice in a few years. I reflect 4 mirrors a the soil to keep it warm. That hasn’t been an issue there have been very few days below 70 so far.

 

These 2 coconuts I got later in October. They came looking horrible one, one without any roots or green leaves. This is them now 2 months later (dec 18 2023) after getting a lot of love.one is still very ugly and the other is looking great. I haven’t decided where they will be planted but I have an in ground greenhouse in the back so I really expect to get a fruiting coconut tree eventually.

[iDesign]

4 hours ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

I’ll document my SoCal coconut tree journey here...

Hopefully a long thread with lots of photos. 🌴🤞

My young Areca vestarias - another plant that “doesn’t grow here” and are currently hiding in the house- say hello. 👋

Not sure what compels us to zone push… but it’s pretty fun when someone manages to defy the odds. 

[hbernstein]

I know the prospect of growing a coconut outside can be tantalizing, but I don't understand why it  keeps being attempted in coastal California.  It's been proven many times that the climate is too cold in Winter, and nights aren't really warm enough in Summer.  Yes, I know that there was one fabled specimen that succeeded (if you can call it that) for many years in a very unique location. Why not try Cyrtostachys or Pigafetta, too?

In South Florida, I've tried Rhopalostylis and Jubaea, once. I understand the attraction of zone pushing, but I don't keep trying when a species just won't succeed here!

[SouthernCATropicals]

4 hours ago, hbernstein said:

I know the prospect of growing a coconut outside can be tantalizing, but I don't understand why it  keeps being attempted in coastal California.  It's been proven many times that the climate is too cold in Winter, and nights aren't really warm enough in Summer.  Yes, I know that there was one fabled specimen that succeeded (if you can call it that) for many years in a very unique location. 

There are many examples of successful coconuts a few miles in each direction from my house. Del Mar coconut is huge and beyond the size I even want for my yard. Sd zoo coconut was doing great before being landscaped. There’s younger coconut trees starting in Tijuana. Then there’s a 2 pretty large ones in Orange County. 
 

I’m certain they can grow here we just have to start them from 0 which is asking a lot from normal people. If they sold them like they do other palm trees here I’m sure they’d be more common.

 

SoCal aside, I feel like I have a very good spot to grow successful heat loving plants. I’m in an urban spot just far enough to escape the fog/clouds from the marine area but not far enough that night temps get too far away from low 50s mid winter (at worst). I’ve only recorded three instances of the daytime highs being less than 70’s so far this cold season. 
 

Obviously I only started this a couple months ago, so there isn’t much to show yet but I’m certain they’ll do fine. I love coconuts so I’ll make them work wherever I put them so we will have some California coconuts one day 

[hbernstein]

16 hours ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

There are many examples of successful coconuts a few miles in each direction from my house. Del Mar coconut is huge and beyond the size I even want for my yard. Sd zoo coconut was doing great before being landscaped. There’s younger coconut trees starting in Tijuana. Then there’s a 2 pretty large ones in Orange County. 
 

I’m certain they can grow here we just have to start them from 0 which is asking a lot from normal people. If they sold them like they do other palm trees here I’m sure they’d be more common.

 

SoCal aside, I feel like I have a very good spot to grow successful heat loving plants. I’m in an urban spot just far enough to escape the fog/clouds from the marine area but not far enough that night temps get too far away from low 50s mid winter (at worst). I’ve only recorded three instances of the daytime highs being less than 70’s so far this cold season. 
 

Obviously I only started this a couple months ago, so there isn’t much to show yet but I’m certain they’ll do fine. I love coconuts so I’ll make them work wherever I put them so we will have some California coconuts one day 

I agree. I was thinking of right along the coast. I know that coconuts are possible in the right spots inland and in warm desert areas. I would think that a changing climate will gradually increase the suitable areas.

[kylecawazafla]

Good luck! Where did you get your coconuts from? I ordered 3 from Kanoa Hawaii Coconuts online and all three of them survived winter in ground in El Centro, CA, only to die in the summer when the person in charge of watering them forgot  I am trying four more, however, from the same grower, so hopefully I have some luck! I find coconuts from Florida (i.e. Malay Dwarfs) are much less cold tolerant and don't do well. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

10 hours ago, kylecawazafla said:

Where did you get your coconuts from? I ordered 3 from Kanoa Hawaii Coconuts online and all three of them survived winter in ground in El Centro, CA, only to die in the summer when the person in charge of watering them forgot  I am trying four more, however, from the same grower, so hopefully I have some luck! I find coconuts from Florida (i.e. Malay Dwarfs) are much less cold tolerant and don't do well. 

Thank you! I got them all from unnamed random Amazon vendors. The one in the ground in the front yard came from Hawaii and the two I have got in fall that are currently in pots came from Miami. 
 

That’s interesting to hear and sounds like good news for my front yard coconut if it is the hardier variety. 
 

I think it is good to get 4 because they all seem to have their own personalities and growth patterns. One in a pot doesn’t seem like it has still even fully recovered it’s journey here from Miami. 
 

Good luck to you they’ll love that El centro heat (w water haha)

[SouthernCATropicals]

This coco’s first winter storm. The temps especially don’t get low with the moister in the air but the river that forms in my street will be a new adventure for front yard coco💀 I put a foot of mulch to elevate that area so it probably won’t flood the coconut.
 

Now that it is finally cloudy I can take a good look at it and I’m noticing some slight yellowing right at the angle where I shoot the mirrors. Maybe I got overzealous, I’ll just reflect at just the dirt a tiny bit I don’t want to burn the fronds. There’s been quite a few days in the 80’s and high 70’s lately and the 4 mirrors are too much..

 

I think eventually I’ll prune those two small leaves off, they’re pretty ugly but I don’t want to do something wrong that’ll stress it out. Those we’re the original two leaves it came with.

I feel like for the first time since I got it, it is starting to look more like a coconut tree and not just a tiny spike ball 🏝️🎄🌴 dec 21 2023

[Cristóbal]

Hello,

What is the native soil in your area, and how far are you from the ocean? If the soil in your area is not sand, then you will have problems in the future, and it is very probable you will lose this palm. The soil in the area of San Diego and most of southern california and baja california south to Abreojos by the pacific ocean is very heavy clay. This type of soil is almost like cement and retains the moisture from the winter rains and causes the roots to rot in the mild more humid winter. This soil does not dry until spring, although the anual rainfall in San Diego is average of less than 10 inches/230 mm and much less in central baja california. The is the main problem with growing cocos nucifera in these coastal areas. If the native soil was simply sand, as in central florida, they would be much more easier to grow.

 

[SouthernCATropicals]

On 12/23/2023 at 12:54 AM, Cristóbal said:

What is the native soil in your area, and how far are you from the ocean? If the soil in your area is not sand, then you will have problems in the future, and it is very probable you will lose this palm. 

The native soil here is really bad and full of clay. I have extensively replaced the native soil with good drainage soil from the stores just about everywhere on the property because it was so bad. I grow all kinds of fruit that don’t want clay soil so I had to amended it everywhere. The coconut took that winter storm pretty well because of its elevation above any native soil.
 

I’m 2.8miles / 4.5 km from the San Diego bay. My winter night temperatures are ~2f degrees colder than the beach temps but substantially warmer during the day all year. It seems the ocean haze and it’s temperatures come in at night but then dissipate early in the morning each day. Some winter nights have so much moister in the air it stays in the low 60s all night. During the summer my temps are maybe 60% closer to the inland cities like Santee and El Cajon vs the coastal areas, never much higher than 90f. There are so many factors in the California peninsula affecting climate it is so interesting lol

[SouthernCATropicals]

January 1 2024 update. Happy new year everyone!

Today was warm and sunny but these past few days have been quite chilly during the day with highs around 64f and no sun. In my experiences as long as the sun is out the days high temps will be good. Regardless, from yard coco has been looking good and it’s farther along pushing out its newest frond. If you compare with the pic above (two weeks prior) you can seen it’s growing quite rapidly compared to before (October-November). I can only guess that maybe it is because the night temps have been much higher lately around mid 50’s for almost the entirely of December where it was low 50’s occasionally dipping into higher 40’s in much of late fall. I also clipped two old fronds and will clips 2 more eventually.

 

As far as the not yet in ground cocos, they’re each their own situation. I bought a new one (middle one) and it just arrived. It has an extensive root system which is exciting, I will put it in ground south facing in the front yard as well. The far right one is by far my favorite coco and I will plant it in ground within the greenhouse maybe in 2 months. The far left coco is not looking good, it seems like it might be a dud. It is still growing but the leaves are so small and slow. I’ll probably plant it in the understory of my wax Jambu tree in spring and so it’s ugliness can be kept at bay and maybe in the meanwhile it will surprise me. (Or not💀) 

 

All the cocos have their own personalities and growth habits so it really shows we need quite a few to guarantee a prime tree. 
 

The forecast for the upcoming week looks brutal but I’ll believe it when I see it. 

[Jadd Correia]

Appreciate the effort and updates. Best of luck with our winter!

[SouthernCATropicals]

Jan 9 2024 arctic blast update 

These last 2 nights were the coldest I’ve ever recorded. Even tho my thermometer says 41f I imagine the ground where coco is is even lower (heat rising and all that). Prior to this event coco only saw as low as 46f. I poured warm water on front yard coco to kickstart warming back up in the morning. All the plants look fine and I don’t see any damage. 
 

Anyways the weather going forward looks very good the days and nights will be much better, I believe the worst of this winter is behind us. I have broken sooo many mirrors warming up this coco so I’m very ready for the suns positioning to hit the coco on its own. Maybe 2 weeks until then.

 

Everyday it is looking better, it is gaining height pushing out new leaves at a faster rate than ever before. Maybe reaching a certain root establishment level?

 

 

 

I hate translating plants, it is so easy to impede their current growth and cause them shock. I am thinking carefully about the physics of how to keep perfectly intact all the soil for these (currently potted) cocos while transferring them into the ground in the most peaceful way possible. The coco on the left is looking so strong and happy and I really want to see it explode in the ground with growth this warm season. I’m thinking mid February will be when I transfer them all to the ground. I think front yard coco would be so much bigger had I got it in the ground more gently, it wasted the entire summer being in shock. 

 

The days of paying $2 for coconuts are numbered 

[SouthernCATropicals]

January 22 2024 flash flood update.

Everything flooded so bad. I tried covering the coconut from the rain but eventually the coconut was entirely underwater so I just removed the tarp so the river doesn’t take it and the coconut along with it.. my mango tree was underwater for hours. Then as quickly as the flood came, it left. 

 

I learned my lesson, I will be elevating the property with soil like crazy in preparation for next year. The rain isn’t that cold it has been 59-65 the entirety of the storm so I’m sure the plants will be fine. Also the soil isn’t even that wet even though the entire coconut was underwater, really shows how great drainable soil is 
 

The forecast going forward looks very good. Since there is no tower in my area the weather is very inaccurate but always by the same amount. When sunny is estimates 4-11f degrees too low for the high and the low is usually right. when it’s cloudy it is spot on for the high but the low is way too low. That’s all to say these upcoming days will be hot to dry up all this water.. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

February 3 2024

I’m very happy with the look of the newest leaves so shiny and healthy looking. I put some slow release fertilizer around it. It was submerged fully underwater (flash flood) a second time a couple days ago, it doesn’t seem to mind.  You can see its newest new frond pushing out. 

These three I’m still deciding their fate. The one in the very back is growing extremely fast it went from 0 to what you see in 3.5 months. My backyard is much more protected from the intense wind/crazies but has powerlines everywhere 15 feet up so their ability to grow really tall is limited. I think I’ll put one more in the front south facing this time lol and one planted in the greenhouse but which will be which I just can’t decide. The little slower one I’ll have in the backyard not in the greenhouse.

I want more coconuts to spread to my parents house much more inland. It’s a real zone 10b as it definitely gets in the upper 30s but has really hot summers. 

 

[SouthernCATropicals]

February 20 2024 update 

 

The front yard coconut has been steadily shooting out new growth. I’ll clip off the older fronds maybe in a month. 

This coconut is growing so fast and looking so good I wish I had several of this type. It seems to have a reddish tint unlike the others so maybe that suggests its origin? At this rate it will be a real tree by the end of summer I’m sure. It’ll be in the ground very soon 
 

For people living in areas where getting your hands on mature coco palms isn’t easy and you have to order sprouts online I’ll just list some things I’ve noticed with my 5 cocos at least in this very early state in their life

-the fully green colored ones grow soo slow. Yellowish ones are faster and the reddish one is a very very fast grower as fast as a papaya 

-they all experienced transplant shock pretty bad and stop growing for at least 2 months when moved and I’m very meticulous with not disturbing the roots also

-I can’t correlate any one temp/rain with damage appearing on the older fronds. All I’ve seen is it slowly forms during winter and not during summer/fall. They’ve seen 41f during that arctic event back in January and a lot of rain and flooding 

- I recently got a greenhouse which experiences much hotter daytime temps and have moved all the potted cocos in there but I haven’t seen any improvements however. Maybe if they were older they’d appreciate it more.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Looking really good, Trenton! I’d avoid cutting off any green fronds though. Not just on coconuts but any palm as they are serving the purpose of producing food for the rest of the palm. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

1 hour ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Looking really good, Trenton! I’d avoid cutting off any green fronds though. Not just on coconuts but any palm as they are serving the purpose of producing food for the rest of the palm. 

Thank you! Okay I’ll restrain myself and hold back haha 

[Jadd Correia]

Nice work. Thank you for the updates. 

[Moose]

Plant a M-4 Mango if you want a coconut 🥥 flavor produced in your garden.

[SouthernCATropicals]

March 15 2024 update

Front yard coco palm has pushed out 1.5 more fronds. I’ve been seeing a lot of different bugs around it and it does slightly worry me. Lots of ants and I hope they aren’t attacking the roots. I’ll crush them all for this coco 

 

This coco palm had gotten quite tall and thick in very short time. Maybe 4ft~ I’m going to plant it in the ground in the greenhouse even though it is my best specimen, I just love it too much to let the animals and wind and whatever get to it. I’m buying loads and loads of good soil for that greenhouse to elevate it above flooding level which is a big issue for me. Once that is done I’ll plant it. 
 

Now these 2 are perfect for the front yard as I never grew attached to them. I’m sure they’ll do fine with all the flooding and animals and things outside of my control but I won’t die for them. I just need to again build an elevated mound above flooding areas. They will be south facing this time unlike the current front yard coco. 
 

As much as I’d like to say, increased daylight hours, and day temperatures and higher night temperatures, or weather or cloud coverage affects the rate at which they’ve grown, I haven’t noticed any measurable difference. Just the same pace since last late summer for all of them 

[SouthernCATropicals]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:00 AM, Moose said:

Plant a M-4 Mango if you want a coconut 🥥 flavor produced in your garden.

I don’t know where people are getting these unique mango varieties in California. My mango tree was just labeled “mango tree” from Walter andersons 😭 I see a graft however 

[mnorell]

Aside from specialty nurseries in SoCal (I would assume Exotica in Vista has several), all sorts of Mangos are available online from Florida. Plant-O-Gram, Top Tropicals, Everglades Farm, a number of other sources have many, many cultivars they can ship to California. However you have to make sure you get cultivars that can do well in SD. Best to look on the Tropical Fruit Forum, California Rare Fruit, et al., to see what can perform for your area. Some mangos are very, very intolerant of the cool coastal plain, others have proven to be quite well adapted, so it is very important to do your research, or at least learn enough that you can select unusual cultivars that "might" be well-suited to the area. Mango trees (most of them, except the dwarf "condo mangos") get very large and selecting the wrong one on a small lot can be disastrous because of the lost real estate when planting the wrong thing.

[SouthernCATropicals]

April 17 2024 update

I finally planted all three of the cocos I still had in pots back in March as it has been much warmer and less wet. I now have a total of 4 cocos in the ground. 

My first coco and most special is the front north facing one. It has pushed out many new fronds each ever so slightly bigger than the last. I have to travel for work a lot and whenever I get back there are what looks like burns so I suspect it isn’t being watered like I instructed.. anyways I expect great things from this one this warm season. 


 

These 2 I planted inside the greenhouse south facing the most prime spot in my lot. I want actual coconut fruit as soon as possible so if they want extreme heat I can give them that 😁 particularly the reddish one is very vigorous you can see it produces quite a root system in only 4 months. 

this one I planted in my very prime south facing garden bed with many companions for microclimate. This one was the slowest growing of them all but it is finally starting to look more normal. 

 

I also just received 3 more 😁 so 7 in total. They have the slightest bit of a base root but nothing more. I’ll probably plant them in late summer like my first coco but they’ll be in actually good spots. 
 

 

[SouthernCATropicals]

May 19 2024 update 

It’s been much warmer lately. I haven’t noticed a change in growth rate of any of the cocos however. They just seem to all have their set pace and keep to it.
  
 

Front yard coco is doing well, it needs a lot of water to keep its leaves perfect looking I’ve learned. Its soil doesn’t retain water at all bc it’s all the loamy soil from Home Depot. I expect it to grow tall enough to be over the fence by winter so it can keep getting full sun then too hopefully. It’s newest leaves are finally getting long.

This reddish coco is everything. It’s grown so fast since the moment I got it, it’s just by far the best coco. It loves being in the ground. I can’t wrap my hand around the base of the trunk anymore. It’s becoming pinnate. It’s currently inside the greenhouse but I keep it open all day and just close it at night for peace at mind with all these crazy rodents around. At this pace it will reach the roof by the end of summer and I’ll decide what to do then but this coco will give me fruit some day I know it. 

This coco is alright it’s growing relatively fast and its parallel to my reddish coco planted in the greenhouse. It’s a good coco nothing more to say. 
 

This was my worse performing coco from the beginning but I like that it’s yellow, I’ve seen picture of fully yellow cocos in India and they look the most beautiful so maybe this ugly duckling will blossom. Bricks covering access to its roots from animals bc I don’t leave anything to chance. 

These cocos are quickly showing their value they’re all growing quite rapidly I don’t know what I’ll do with them but I’m open to suggestions probably just be in big pots unless one really impresses me

[SouthernCATropicals]

July 1st 2024 update 

It has gotten very hot now in the 80’s for over a month and I’m still not seeing a change in the pace of the coconut growth. Each coconut really just has its own pace and all my coconut behave so differently. I’m seeing the green one grow slow and shorter the reddish one’s grows extremely fast and the yellowish grow slow and look damaged all the time.  
This one I for sure planted in a very bad spot even in peak summer solstice it only gets a few hours of sun a day but it is healthy and steadily growing if not very slow. I think at this rate by December it should be big enough for this corner and maybe it’ll grow faster once it is tall enough to get full sun

My reddish coco is growing so fast it’s only 9 months old from seed and now it’s atleast 5ft tall. From the moment I got it it was growing at this speed, it’s first summer and the greenhouse (I eventually got) hadn’t seemed to change its pace. This one is stressing me out bc I hadn’t realized how fast some cocos grow and the power lines are like 17ft up and I can see that being an issue in like a year or 2 

This one is another slow growing green one. It is getting thicker.these 2 yellowish ones don’t look nice, I don’t know what they want. Is it too hot? Too cold? Regardless they’re given everything they should need so I’m pretty sure they will adapt to our climate. I planted the 2 newest babies in the front bc I saw their roots poking out the pot. This spot should give them a lot of all year sun and since it is in the front yard their height will never cause issues with power lines like the back 

[Axel Amsterdam]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:46 AM, SouthernCATropicals said:

July 1st 2024 update 

It has gotten very hot now in the 80’s for over a month and I’m still not seeing a change in the pace of the coconut growth. Each coconut really just has its own pace and all my coconut behave so differently. I’m seeing the green one grow slow and shorter the reddish one’s grows extremely fast and the yellowish grow slow and look damaged all the time.  
This one I for sure planted in a very bad spot even in peak summer solstice it only gets a few hours of sun a day but it is healthy and steadily growing if not very slow. I think at this rate by December it should be big enough for this corner and maybe it’ll grow faster once it is tall enough to get full sun

My reddish coco is growing so fast it’s only 9 months old from seed and now it’s atleast 5ft tall. From the moment I got it it was growing at this speed, it’s first summer and the greenhouse (I eventually got) hadn’t seemed to change its pace. This one is stressing me out bc I hadn’t realized how fast some cocos grow and the power lines are like 17ft up and I can see that being an issue in like a year or 2 

This one is another slow growing green one. It is getting thicker.these 2 yellowish ones don’t look nice, I don’t know what they want. Is it too hot? Too cold? Regardless they’re given everything they should need so I’m pretty sure they will adapt to our climate. I planted the 2 newest babies in the front bc I saw their roots poking out the pot. This spot should give them a lot of all year sun and since it is in the front yard their height will never cause issues with power lines like the back 

Really fascinating to see the growth differences between these types and the fact that each keeps the same pace with or without heat.

Did you ever mark the spear to see how much growth per 24 hrs? Would it be over an inch for the reddish one? 

[SouthernCATropicals]

4 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

Really fascinating to see the growth differences between these types and the fact that each keeps the same pace with or without heat. 

Yeah it is pretty strange atleast from what I’ve seen in this first year that has been the case.

4 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

Did you ever mark the spear to see how much growth per 24 hrs? Would it be over an inch for the reddish one? 

I haven’t but I took some pics today to try to compare. It’s pretty hard to follow what all is going on as it looks wild now that it’s becoming more pinnate. Comparing with the pic above it looks like the newest frond gained about a foot in length and it has been 13 days so maybe like you said just about an inch or so a day as well as a thickening of the trunk. If you look back at my hand holding the trunk just 2 months ago it has gotten so much fatter.
 

The others look to have gained maybe 40% that on their newest fronds and they’re much smaller in general besides having a head start. 
 

[SouthernCATropicals]

July 29 2024 update 

This coconut has produced its first frond with some frond separation (pinnatation?) These types of fronds seem to be softer and longer. I replaced the hedge next to it with small baby mango trees so it gets a lot more sun for now. It’s getting tall enough to reach the sun in winter solstice. Remember the mirrors?🥹

 

These 2 newest cocos are steadily growing just they’re so young it will be a while. They have the most potential however as they’re very full sun and the sky is their height limit. I’ve learned coconuts hate having their fronds bent from the hose and you can see right where I shoot it and I shoot gently so something to keep in mind to keep them beautiful. 

This coconut was already the fastest but it seems to have sped up even more recently. I have to leave for a few days for work and I’m certain it will be touching the 7ft roof around when I get back. I just bought this greenhouse and it’s great for seed germination so I’m going to try to somehow elevate it another 2 feet…somehow. I only helped it a tiny bit but otherwise it produced its first fully pinnate leaf. 10 months from first sprout 🌱. A great coco for someone like me that wanted immediate results. 

 

This coconut is getting fat but not tall. It’s like all the other and growing but not blowing me away. It is a bit close to the other coco but I hope long term this won’t be an issue. Maybe long term a coconut hammock?  


I try not to give too much opinion and just state what I’m noticing but both these yellowish cocos seem much happier and more beautiful now that we’re in the hot season. The others I never noticed and more (or less) frond damage just these two yellow ones. The one in the ground is looking better but still so ugly. Since it is small and out of the way I’ll let it do its thing for another year but then she’s gotta go if it’s always going to be that ugly. The potted one is looking more mature and pretty, I’ll up pot it soon. It’s fat coco roots are pushing out the drainage holes. 

[Jadd Correia]

Thank you for the continued updates. Cocos are looking solid. FYI I just found out about Wulung (pink fleshed) coconuts which look amazing and fun to grow.

[Las Palmas Norte]

As someone that doesn't fully understand, what would be some of the challenges facing survival of a coconut palm in frost free San Diego? TIA, Curious.

[SeanK]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

As someone that doesn't fully understand, what would be some of the challenges facing survival of a coconut palm in frost free San Diego? TIA, Curious.

Soil temps, for one. Long cool winter owing to the Pacific Ocean breezes.

[SouthernCATropicals]

20 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

what would be some of the challenges facing survival of a coconut palm in frost free San Diego? TIA, Curious.

Mature coconut palms aren’t available for us to buy here and mature plants are much more forgiving. People buy a sprout that maybe doesn’t even have a root yet and have to give it the extreme care that nurseries usually deal with for all our other palms. Freshly germinated plants are so weak and thirsty. So I think most people lose them quickly from not watering enough or not buying them during our warmer season for them to mature a little bit before winter.

 

Every climate has its specifics that coconuts have to come to accept and ours is that the entire year were maybe 5 degrees away from what their ideal temp would be. I think if their other typical stresses are lessened by a gardener like generous watering, I imagine the stress of being slightly cooler than ideal isn’t enough for a young coconut to care much. 
 

I have never seen a garden here in California and thought to myself  “hm that soil looks moist it must have gotten watered recently” ever ahah

[SouthernCATropicals]

21 hours ago, Jadd Correia said:

Thank you for the continued updates. Cocos are looking solid. FYI I just found out about Wulung (pink fleshed) coconuts which look amazing and fun to grow.

Thank you! It looks very interesting same with the Himalayan coconuts I’d love to get my hands on some, I bet they grow completely different from the ones I have 

[kylecawazafla]

This is kind of off topic, but I from personal experience, I have found that coconuts from Kanoa Hawaii seem to tolerate the cool winters of Southern California quite well. 

I "live" in El Centro, CA, and have now had 5 of these coconut palms bought as seedlings survive winter in El Centro, CA without any issue. Unfortunately, I am only here part time, and the people who water my plants are very unreliable, so I have had 3 of them die now from lack of water. I planted one in a lawn in complete full sun as well that gets water from sprinklers and it has not shown any sun damage, surprisingly! 

Home Depot and Lowes are occasionally stalked with coconuts that I assume are Malay Dwarfs from Florida and they languish here. Hopefully one day one of my coconut palms will grow to be a mature palm, but it's hard when you don't have control of their watering in the desert. 

[SouthernCATropicals]

August 17, 2024 update 

It has been imo brutally hot and humid 84-89f this last month. At this point, I’ve seen a couple of the coconuts speed up in growth for the first time to some extent. Also I read about dwarf coconuts and those characteristics seem to match the “reddish” coconut I have in the back, so I’m thinking it’s fast growth might be related to it being a dwarf?

Anyways, this coco is growing a bit faster, getting fatter and taller, more pinnate.

 

Here are these 2

 

 

This coconut has grown beyond the roof of the greenhouse so I removed a piece of the roof for it to shoot out. There are so many benefits to the greenhouse that I’m gonna keep it assembled a while longer. There are so many violent possums, raccoons, and skunks that would love to attack the roots if given the chance. I’m loving the look of it and excited to see its future. 

 

This ugly duckling believe it or not is looking better shaped. It has never been beautiful, but it looked better during winter so I don’t know what is upsetting it.  

 

This one is getting pretty, I love the vibrant yellow. I’m going to get a nice big clay pot and it will be used as a decoration (no yard space left)

 

This one is built funny, but getting fatter.

[SouthernCATropicals]

On 7/31/2024 at 8:17 PM, kylecawazafla said:

This is kind of off topic, but I from personal experience, I have found that coconuts from Kanoa Hawaii seem to tolerate the cool winters of Southern California quite well. 

Very interesting, if I’m not mistaken, I think that first coco I ever got in that corner was from Hawaii so maybe that has helped it. It was submerged in chilly water quite a bit during the storms when SD was flooding bad.

 

On 7/31/2024 at 8:17 PM, kylecawazafla said:

Home Depot and Lowes are occasionally stalked with coconuts that I assume are Malay Dwarfs from Florida and they languish here. Hopefully one day one of my coconut palms will grow to be a mature palm, but it's hard when you don't have control of their watering in the desert. 

I’d love to see if you have pictures from before or now, all California cocos are so cool and good to learn about especially bc my parents have a similar inland climate place where I might plop some cocos sometime in the future 

[SouthernCATropicals]

September 9 2024 update

The highest temp I’ve ever recorded (by a lot) was yesterday at 103f previously I’ve only ever seen maybe mid 90’s during a heatwave. The cocos didn’t seem to mind but my cherimoya is burnt up and mangos loved it. 
 

I gave away my yellow potted coconut to a neighbor to plant, it was looking really really good and tall😓 

My first coco has become somewhat pinnate. The fronds look strange almost like a fan palm in that they aren’t very long like all my other cocos. This is the only one from Hawaii. It’s taller than the shadow of the wall so it is no longer north facing. It might be slow growing but I really like this one particularly. 

 

These two getting bigger, I think they’re particularly fast growing. 

 

This one is finally looking good, maybe it didn’t like the winter. Virtually all my coconuts have received the same treatment, except the ones that were still in pots I brought indoors during the storms.

 

This one is my second biggest, it is growing, just nothing like the one next to it.

This one is getting more and more height and thickness rapidly. Looks to be about 8 ft tall now. I watched a video about Thai coconut farmers, and they said that they only choose coconut sprouts that grow at a certain accelerated rate, I think this might be a good genetics coconut like that. I’ll try to close off the greenhouse somewhat once the trunk is fully outside and over the greenhouse bc I would like to get some use out of it and maybe the coconut could enjoy a bit warmer area around its roots atleast for another year.