Dwarf coconut palm

[Vernmented]

I just wanted to share some pics from today. I didn't think it would start flowering without a trunk but someone said this is normal for a dwarf. This is my first experience with coconut palms. This was purchased from Home Depot less then two years ago and had three fronds sticking up and the coconut was still attached and not decomposed.

Does the flowering this low seem normal to you guys? Will coconuts hold on the first flower panicles?

[LivingParadise]

I have not realized you could buy dwarf coconuts so easily here in the States! I would be interested if the fronds are smaller, because the regular size coconuts grow easily here so height is not a huge problem - you can always cut one down and start over again - but the fronds get so big and heavy they cause a lot of damage sometimes when they fall, and are a pain to have to drag out of the yard every week. They are often some 15ft in length and HEAVY!

So I don't have experience growing dwarf coconuts, but I have quite a few regular coconut trees, and from a size standpoint I see no reason why your palm won't be able to hold fruit. It's certainly strong enough. I don't know if anyone could answer if your particular plant will decide to drop its first crop, but if the flowers pollinate and they fruit, the tree could certainly hold a few. If you want to encourage it to grow a lot though, you might want to cut the fruit off before it puts much effort into making them. That depends on whether your priority though is vegetative growth, or fresh coconuts as soon as possible.

Do you plan on eating them green or when mature when you finally get a crop?

[Vernmented]

This was just labeled as a coconut palm so when I noticed the flower spikes I got really excited. I would rather have the dwarf and I am zone pushing here so I am sure I will have to protect it in the future. I plan on drinking these green. I have seen dwarf coconuts fruiting but I have never witnessed the first flowering and seen them this low.

[jegpg1]

My two coconuts did the same thing last year, no fruit developed. This year, the golden one has three inflorescence and the green one has none. Not sure if the golden is ready to hold fruit, it has two-foot trunk now. So, my guess is that your coconut will do the same as mine did. Keep us posted.

[Vernmented]

My two coconuts did the same thing last year, no fruit developed. This year, the golden one has three inflorescence and the green one has none. Not sure if the golden is ready to hold fruit, it has two-foot trunk now. So, my guess is that your coconut will do the same as mine did. Keep us posted.

Thanks. Will do.

[LivingParadise]

Note that sometimes when a coconut is young, it takes a few years for it to hold fruit that is useful for anything. Sometimes they will drop most of the flowers, then grow a few coconuts, then abort the coconuts before they are large enough to have any water or meat inside. Sometimes they might do this a few years in a row, before really getting established. Most do not produce at their peak rate for quite a number of years, so it can take them a little while to get going.

Just in case you did not know, the green coconuts produce meat in addition to coconut water to drink, and it is quite healthy. It's thin and in a more gelatinous state than typical mature coconut, and has all the electrolytes with only a fraction of the fat and calories of the mature version. It doesn't taste much like mature coconut though. I sometimes will have a whole green coconut as my breakfast. It's highly nutritious, and here it is free. Produces maybe about 1 cup of thin gelatinous nut meat, and 1-1.5 cups of coconut water. Coconut water tastes different depending on what tree it comes from. The trees in my yard produce the 2nd best coconut water I have ever tasted. The best was in another country and I can't get it again - but it tasted very nutty and fresh. Mine oddly tastes very sweet and slightly bland, like sugar water. My neighbors' coconuts vary, but none can compare to mine... most are tasteless, or even a bit unpleasant flavored. Hard to say if this is a nutritional thing, or by individual tree, or species. The Keys are prone to coconut mite, and I wonder too how this affects taste of the water. The meat too, of course, is variable. Mine have good meat, but not the best. Some others I've tried are bland, or taste kind of gross. Some of the coconuts I tasted in Central America had some of the best flavor I've ever had - much better than I thought coconut could taste. People tend to just think a coconut is a coconut, but like all other fruits, that is just not true. I have not identified what variety my trees are yet, but they don't appear to be much different from all the other trees around here.

[jegpg1]

Just took this one this morning.

[TnTrobbie]

The coconuts HD and Lowes sell are from Costa farms in FL. From my communications with them they say its the Green Malayan variety (dwarf in that it bears fruit at a younger age (2'-3' of grey bark) but will get 40'-80' tall). Any idea about the "ideal" planting distances for them?

[Vernmented]

The coconuts HD and Lowes sell are from Costa farms in FL. From my communications with them they say its the Green Malayan variety (dwarf in that it bears fruit at a younger age (2'-3' of grey bark) but will get 40'-80' tall). Any idea about the "ideal" planting distances for them?

Thanks for the info. That is really helpful. I have 3 more in pots so now I can at least label them correctly. I give mine a pretty small footprint in my yard but I am cramming a lot into a small space. I figure the canopy will be up overhead in a few years so I just trim the fronds as they start rubbing on trees around them.

Here are some pics from this morning.







Here is a Fiji Dwarf that is picking up some steam.