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Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime - probably more like a buck fifty -

I bought a couple of coconuts and left one in a bag and kinda forgot about it for some weeks. Thought it too late to fool with and was going to throw it away, but decided to look and found this.



 
Lucky man. I have always dreamed of growing a coconut palm, however I live in an area corrupted with nightmarish winters.

Are you going to keep it and grow it out??
 
That's pretty cool Paul. I've had them sprout in the husk but have never seen growth on just the "nut" before.
 
Yes indeedy. I think I will try to grow it out, though I hear they don't like conditions other than tropical. Maybe it can get through the winter in the garage. Winters here are pretty mild, though we can occasionally dip below freezing. I read a story in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics where a gal in the 50's grew one from a seed and kept it for over thirty years. It's last home was a metal garbage can with holes punched though the bottom. She eventually gave it away when it got too large for her to care for.
 
  • #10
The only place I've ever seen coconut palms growing in the wild is Florida. I've seen them as far north as Flagler County, not sure what their northern limits are. Occasional frosts may not bother them too much.
 
  • #11
I didn't know people actively tried growing coconut palms, they're always already there when you go someplace new haha
 
  • #12
There used to be lots of fan palms and other palms around here back in the 70's lining some of the streets. The odd frost/long term cold event and/or old age or whatever took most of them. There are still a few, and from time to time seeds of Mexican fan palms blow or are dropped into a couple of flower beds of mine and sprout. Transplanting them is dicey, some live most don't. Getting them re-established seems to work best by potting them up and letting them grow out and later planting them out. I recently got a length of sugar cane I am going to fool with a bit and see if it will grow here.
 
  • #13
Oh, and at a local nursery I saw a large date palm, fifteen or more foot tall, probably closer to twenty. In a very large pot. The asking price? 11K! That one had evidently been outside for some time, so perhaps it is relatively cold tolerant.
 
  • #14
On the note of the sugar cane, its rather easy to grow, and you can root it by sticking it in a bit of water. An odd frost might stunt it, but I don't think it would kill it off completely.

One time I cut down one of the canes that was getting too big and starting to grow up against a window. I was lazy and didn't want to cut it up to throw away, so I stuck it in a bucket of water that had a bunch of concrete in it. A few weeks later the cane had rooted and was growing quite vigorously despite the alkalinity and nasty chemicals in the concrete-water.
 
  • #16
The only place I've ever seen coconut palms growing in the wild is Florida. I've seen them as far north as Flagler County, not sure what their northern limits are. Occasional frosts may not bother them too much.

I see them all the time :p
 
  • #18
Quickly, try and cover it. You may still have time to revive it..
I have heard that they really like to be covered and in warm humid conditions
In early stages
 
  • #19
Pretty sure it was a lost cause. I do from time to time sprout mangos. Works better in spring. The last few I tried did not take, this one did. I accidentally dropped something on it and broke the root, it is now branching and putting out leaves. The new ones are usually a brilliant copper color.
 
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