How To Grow A Coconut From Seed

pax12

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This is part 1 of many of my new project how to grow a coconut from a seed from a store. These first few day the coconut has to me completely soaked in water. Part 2 will be coming in the next few days to show the next step.
 

buckabucka

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Wow. How long does it take to get a coconut from a tree started as a seed? Not that I could grow one here, but I love coconut!
 

pax12

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Wow. How long does it take to get a coconut from a tree started as a seed? Not that I could grow one here, but I love coconut!

It should take 6-8 years
 

pax12

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How To Grow A Coconut From Seed (Step 2) Part 2 of how to grow a coconut from a seed. The seed has been soaking for about 3 days and is ready for the next step. Remove the coconut out of the water and put it in a bag with around an inch of water in the corner in it so it stays moist and the bag will act like a mini green house. In the next 10-12 days you should see it starting to grow.
 

Pulsegleaner

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I'm probably a downer for even bringing this up, but given that your profile says you're in PA, exactly where are you going to PUT the coconut palm when you get it going? Don't they need to get kind of ...big before they can make nuts? You must have a really tall greenhouse.

Not that I'm in a position to try it now, but I wonder if these methods would work well for other orthodox palms ("orthodox" in the sense of the opposite of "recalcitrant" i.e. palms whose seeds DON'T die when they dry down so I have the time to hold onto them while I figure out things like placement.). I don't really have much interest in a coconut palm (I like coconut, but not really enough to personally justify to me the amount of effort it takes to crack one open) But at some point, if I had the room, a conquito palm (aka a Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chiliensis) might be fun (for those who have never seen conquito nuts, imagine coconuts, but bite sized, and without the milk inside). Though I think those have to get even BIGGER that coconuts to make fruit. I remember the one in the Palm house that got me was HUGE. *

* Back when I was a kid, my parents one summer cashed in all of our frequent flier miles and took us all to England for four weeks. While we were in London, it was decided that each of us would get to pick the day trip one day, and when my turn came up, I chose Kew Gardens.
Kew gardens DOES have something called the Palm house where the tropical stuff is. However the conquito is actually in the subtropical greenhouse. It so happened that, when we were there said tree was in fruit. I know this because while I was standing there, I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head and something hit the ground and realized said palm had dropped a fruit and conked me. Imagine someone dropping a wooden ball about the size of a chestnut wrapped in a peach from about 40-50 feet up, and you'll have some idea of how much it hurt. Of course a full sized coconut would have been much worse (I think those can kill you if they hit you on the head.)
 

Nyboy

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A friend had a house on key west. Many of the houses had coconut palms in front yards. The owners would have to pay people to clime the trees and remove the nuts. If someone was on the side walk and a coconut fell and hurt them ,a large lawsuit could happen. Most people started removing the trees.
 

SprigOfTheLivingDead

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I applaud the experiment @pax12 :)

Sometimes it's all about the basic thought of "I wonder if I can do this" and just learning what works in different situations. Who knows, 15 years from now you may find yourself living in Hawaii and this will be a good thing to have learned at this time :)
 
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