San Diego Coconut Trees

September 22

6 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Gonna need clear and crisp still photos of the bug in question to get an idea of what it is.. Casually, looks too small to be SPW. Don't see a snout or other distinctive markings that might indicate it was a weevil ..SPW, Yucca, or Agave..

Thank you I really appreciate it! I noticed it didn’t have the snout, but I thought maybe it could’ve been maybe like a gender thing etc. regardless, this specific one is extremely dead haha

There’s like three huge dead canary date palms circling my place so I’m keeping an eye out

September 22

6 minutes ago, SouthernCATropicals said:

Thank you I really appreciate it! I noticed it didn’t have the snout, but I thought maybe it could’ve been maybe like a gender thing etc. regardless, this specific one is extremely dead haha

There’s like three huge dead canary date palms circling my place so I’m keeping an eye out

:greenthumb:

Since the signs are there ( the dead Canaries near by ) Definitely doesn't hurt to keep an eye out for them ..I myself would consider setting up a trap or two, ...just in case / to monitor for their presence so you can get a jump on them before they become a problem..

Regarding the other two SPW look-alike Weevil sps. that occur out there, as far as i'm aware, neither bother palms.

Cactus Weevil is another one you might see occasionally. It too - as far as i'm aware, is host- specific / isn't interested in palms..

Btw, Coconuts are looking good..

September 25

Love following the updates on this post! I moved from San Diego to Florida a few years ago and sent my dad back home with a sprouted coconut that he has been growing with success in the north county area.

I also like how you’ve gotten a bunch different colored coconuts. I filled my yard with multiple yellows(my favorite), tons of green Malayans and a golden Malayan. Last one I’m trying to acquire is a dark orange coconut.
Keep posting updates, cheers!

September 26

15 hours ago, Floridaman43 said:

Love following the updates on this post! I moved from San Diego to Florida a few years ago and sent my dad back home with a sprouted coconut that he has been growing with success in the north county area.

Thank you and that’s great to hear!

15 hours ago, Floridaman43 said:

I also like how you’ve gotten a bunch different colored coconuts.

I didn’t know there were different colors and varieties when I started but I’m happy I got different types if I was only left with that first coconut I would think coconuts grow slow here but I’m super happy I have a coconut that grows like a papaya too.

September 29

September 29, 2024

The newest leaf on this one is so large and also shaped differently. It also doesn’t bend in the wind or droop like the previous ones do.

Compare with an older frond, see how it used to come out horizontally and less slanted upward?

Next spring I’ll clean up this space and make it beautiful maybe like a beachy look

It’s really hard to show the true size of this cocopalm because of the awkwardness of the angles I have to take with the halfbaked greenhouse but it really looks large and towering over me now

October 19

October 18, 2024 update

My oldest coconut is now 1 year and 2 months, it grows quite slow. This is the coconut that is specifically from Hawaii and the rest are from Florida I believe.

This coconut seems to be the winner of the front yard so far.

Another front yard coco, this one is more reddish . See how it curves toward the sun?

This is a very new coconut. It is very yellow and I can tell this is a winner in the short 2 weeks I’ve had it, the pretty new leaf shot out from nowhere and stem has tripled. Now that I’ve had 9 coconuts I can tell the winners and this is one of them, I expect great things from this one.

This one was the ugly duckling but now it looks normal, it is still the slowest of all my coconuts by a lot but now I think it is stabilized so to speak.

This coconut is looking more pinnate and getting taller. In fact it is stressing me out bc I don’t have the will to carve another whole in my poor greenhouse. I will but 😓

I can’t really show the size bc of all the things in the way but you can see how thick the trunk is, I can’t even get my 2 hands around it together. I have tried to cover the holes in the greenhouse to allow the temperature to build up during the day, as the coconut must appreciate it. It gets battered by the wind now that it is pretty high up so I hope it doesn’t get ugly after storms in early spring. Anyways im always happy to check this one out bc it grows so fast

October 27

October 27, 2024 update

It has been pretty warm lately, but I’m starting to only water them once a day now as the days get shorter and nights cooler. Most night lows are around 58-62f now.

A palmtalk member helped me ID the coconut types for anyone wondering. The first coconut in the corner directly below is most likely a Niu Hiwa mix and all the rest are a Maypan mixes.

Here is this one, it gets sun all day but only on the tops leaves and the soil doesn’t get any sun. I think it is established enough to not care. (1.25 years old)

These 2 started to pinnate, which is exciting.(Both 6 months old)

This one I might replace the jackfruit tree in the greenhouse with. The jackfruit is struggling with the heat there and this one is a winner, and yellow. (Had it for 1 month, unknown age)

Maybe in a few years we might get a new leaf on this one 🙏🏻 (1 year old)

This one is finally starting to look good. (10 months old)

Now that this coconut is fully growing outside the greenhouse I have haphazardly sealed off the greenhouse so it is very toasty again. It has put out a new frond at a rate of 1 each month so I hope to keep it at that pace throughout winter (1 year old)

November 11

11/11/2024

I have question. I want to have the floor around these 2 coconuts be beach sand and larger lava rock. If I put maybe like 2 inches of beach sand on top of the soil around the coconuts would that suffocate them?

They already have a hefty layer of mulch chicken poop, garden scraps, bark etc. What they’re planted in is 80% homedepot soil 20% native clay. So it is very unimpacted, it gives very easily if you step near them, but I don’t.

November 18

11/18/2024 update

It’s been an unusually cold November, days and nights have been as cold as the coldest part of the year. Lows 49-51 It’s also been windy and I’ve noticed the slight cold damage on the some of the leaves that appears during winter. I think all the damage I see on the coconuts always seems to come from the wind because the ones that experience no wind have zero damage (aside from the yellow coconuts that are always unhappy during winter). The coconuts have slowed down in growth quite a bit especially as we get into the darkest part of the year which is dramatized by the fact I’m surrounded by tall buildings so they get few hours of sun.

This coconut hasn’t grown at all since it stopped getting overhead sun, which has been a while.