Coconut Dwarf Variety

[swapnil.tailor]

What are good coconut dwarf variety that can do well in Northern California (SF Bay Area/San Jose/9b) climate? And where to find a good source to buy one from?
Also is it good to wait till Spring before buying one given winter is going to come soon?

[BonsaiBeast]

What are good coconut dwarf variety that can do well in Northern California (SF Bay Area/San Jose/9b) climate? And where to find a good source to buy one from?
Also is it good to wait till Spring before buying one given winter is going to come soon?

Coconut palm doesnt even grow in Southern California, much less northern.

[Nayelie321]

San Jose is 9b so you could try if you want to but there is no guarantee. Dwarf varieties tend to produce in 2.5 years but the thing is a dwarf coconut isn’t really a dwarf. It will grow to the same height as a standard coconut it only ends up producing at a younger age and shorter height. I’d recommend Malayan dwarf(comes in yellow, bronze and green) or its hybrid the Maypan.
You’ll need to give it winter protection obviously but you have a chance of harvesting coconuts sooner so you might have a chance.

[swapnil.tailor]

Thanks for the response. Any recommended buyer from whom i can buy Malayan Dwarf?

[Musa]

Pretty much any coconut palm you find for sale is going to be a Malayan dwarf. Tall varieties, maypan, spicata, fiji dwarf are pretty tough to find (at least in Florida, which likely means the majority of the mainland USA supply).

Finding a tree is going to be the easy part.

[swapnil.tailor]

Thanks will pick it from ebay in that case. Finding some for ~$30 so could spend that and do the experiment if they can survive. But will wait till spring, given smaller plant will hurt in winter if i buy them now. And have to baby sit them by moving to garage during winter.

[DSotM]

I believe there was a fruiting coconut in inland empire (9b). The winters have the same lows as San Jose but the summers reach above 100 regularly. Many speculated the hot summers gave it enough vitality to squeak by in the winter. The growing condition was against a southern facing white wall completely concreted in on all sides. The thought was that the concrete and wall retained enough heat in the daytime to keep the roots warm enough to last.

There is a chance it can be done, but it probably takes the perfect storm. With as many coconut palms as Home Depot sells there have probably been thousands of attempts and failures, but maybe a few other successful examples out there.


I also imagine that the palm wasn’t planted as a 1 foot sprout, but kept in a pot and brought in for winters until it was large enough to endure the winter.

[scashaggy]

If cold roots would be the problem, why not grow it in a large container and wrap it with some kind of heating element when the temp gets really low.  You could even hook it up to a thermostat.  Just a thought.  I'm from Miami so I don't know anything about winter.