Sprouting coconuts

[estación seca]

Don't eat those chocolate bars. They are extremely toxic. I will take them home and dispose of them properly.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Don't eat those chocolate bars. They are extremely toxic. I will take them home and dispose of them properly.

I thank you for your service. You are a true patriot and a gentleman.

[Ray]

If anyone is desperate to grow palms in pots, I can provide Sabal palmetto seeds, and if the squirrels haven’t gotten to the fruit (which makes great jam), Pindo palms.

They germinate and grow easily. All summer long we pull “volunteers” out of the ground.

[WaterWitchin]

No Jeff, we are NOT taking a road trip to find and/or lick toads. You're on your own for that adventure. But I do want to ride a horse in Garden of the Gods one more time...

Okay, back to sprouting coconuts. DC... I task you, please, in finding me a coconut that's just starting to sprout and sending it my way. I feel the need to grow a coconut tree.

I even have a long-term plan in place.

[estación seca]

The cost of shipping will be far more than the cost of a viable coconut at your supermarket.

[WaterWitchin]

How will I know viable? Also, isn't this like can't grow potatoes or garlic, etc, for the most part from grovery as they've been chemically treated?

[DirtyCoconuts]

buy an intact one in the husk, called a green coconut, typically. set it somewhere warm


i have a neighbor with a pile of them so i will see if i can find either a little one OR one that is lighter

[WaterWitchin]

I will look next time I’m at store. Not sure I’ve seen them here. But will have daughter check in KC. Much better access to stuff like that!

[estación seca]

They're in the produce section. A large stack of fuzzy round brown coconuts with the husk removed. They should all be viable.

Soak in water a few days. Put in a Ziplock baggie with a touch of perlite; or a large jar; and keep as warm as you can. 90 degrees F / 32C or higher is good; lower is OK. At typical home winter temperatures it might not sprout until next spring after it warms up. It might take months to sprout. Every month or so take it out and soak it again in water overnight, then back into the jar.

Give it some light when it sprouts. Let the sprout start making root nubs, then plant the seed with the sprout in the ground, half the coconut emerging, and just the tip of the sprout above ground level. From that point give as much light as possible, including full summer sun.

DC check with your ag department and the USDA. Because of Jamaican yellowing it may not be permitted to export coconuts from Florida to other States.

Anybody who's ever been interested in palms should take Ray up on his offer. Both palms are easy to sprout and grow, but they don't grow as fast as sunflowers and radishes. Most palms can be potted up bit by bit to the largest pot you ever want to move around, and left there for years. They slow down drastically in containers.

The Pindo palm, Butia odorata (old name Butia capitata) is a very slow-growing, grayish-green and extremely cold tolerant palm. It would make a nice indoor-outdoor pot plant for a sunny conservatory. Fruits are large and orange to yellow, like an apricot, and taste somthing like an apricot. It tolerates full sun everywhere.

The Sabal palmetto palm Ray mentions is also quite frost hardy. It is on the South Carolina State flag. It grows faster than the Butia but not as fast as a coconut. It too tolerates full sun everywhere.

Palms sprout best with day and night hot temperatures. To sprout most palm seed: If you live in a hot climate, soak in warm to hot water for a few days, then plant an inch deep in any kind of soil. I use mixes high in small perlite because when it is time to pot up singly they are easier to get out of the soil. Use a deep pot, no smaller than a typical 1-gallon plastic nursery pot. Keep in a hot place, as warm as possible, and wet. The fresher they are the faster they sprout. Palm enthusiasts sprout all palm seed as soon as received, using a heat mat if necessary, rather than waiting for the next spring. Most seedlings of tall palms can take full sun from the start in all but our desert southwest. Understory rain forest palms can't tolerate full sun.

If you don't live in a hot climate, after the soaking, scrape off as much pulp and husk as you can. You might need a knife. Be careful; some palm husks contain oxalic acid and can irritate skin.

Instead of scraping, palm enthusiasts go to a beer brewing store and buy pectinase enzyme. If the seeds are large enough to manipulate, scratch the dry pulp around the seeds so the liquid can get inside. Put the seeds in a jar with enough water to cover, add a few drops of the enzyme, mix, and set someplace very warm for a few days. The enzyme degrades the pulp and the seeds become easy to clean of pulp.

Once clean, decide how best to keep them hot while sprouting. If you have limited space and need to use a heat mat, put them tightly in a small pot, cover with soil, get wet, let drain, and set on the heat mat. Don't let the soil dry.

Let them grow on for a year or two in the seedling container. Then during warm weather, dump them out, separate out and pot singly into tall containers. The sorts of band pots used for trees work well; so do 1-gallon nursery containers. Move them up as they grow.

[DirtyCoconuts]

ES, you are a wealth of knowledge!!! Thank you for sharing that