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dangrows

coconut not looking too good

19 years ago

I bought a coconut palm about a year ago at home depot and planted it. It shoot up a couple new fronds then slowed down over the winter. Now all the tips are brown and even the new shoot comming up has a brown tip. Any special food or care I can do for it to make it come back.

Comments (16)

  • 19 years ago

    Did it get colder than 60°F at night for any length of time?

  • 19 years ago

    Yes it did unfortunatly. Probably got down to about 40degres on a few nights. They must be sensitive little guys when young. There are some older trees in my neighboorhood with fruit and everything and they dont look too bad. I'v tried miracle grow on it but that didn;t seem to help it. I have a few other palms doing well (christmas palm, and areca palm) but just not this one.

  • 19 years ago

    These young ones need lots of heat all the time. I kill them at 50 and 40 degrees every year. If it turns brown, its a goner. Toss it out and start over. Miracle grow wont bring back the dead...lol

  • 19 years ago

    Do you have a picture?

    Where do you live?

    A little bit of browning isn't the end. If the new spear is still growing, then it should bounce back this summer.

  • 19 years ago

    palmshaun....when they turn brown up here in the North, you know they turned brown. Thats the symbol of dead up here...lol

  • 19 years ago

    Haha, yeah. Maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic based on my experiences. If the lowest he saw was in the 40s and it wasn't for a prolonged period, it could very well bounce back. But yeah, I understand where you all come from. How was rolling all the pots back in the greenhouse?

  • 19 years ago

    dangrows It would help to know what state you live in also.You will never change the ugly fronds only the new ones. Fertilize them with a palm fertilizer and depending where you live you may need to do more for your soil.Here I have add magnesium,potasium to my fertilizer to keep them green.Fertilizing right before it gets cold helps also and if you do it when its below the 60s the palm will not take up the nutrients.

  • 19 years ago

    I am in pinellas county florida. I am going to fertilize tomarrow with palm fertilizer and hope for the best. I have seen some juvinile coconuts in the area and some are not doing too good either. There are some adult coconut palms close by that look good and are bearing fruit. What gives? If what palmshaun said is true I should be OK. The new spear is still shooting up so I have hope for it. I'll submit a pic soon and see what yall think.

  • 19 years ago

    A hint of brown one day means a lot the next.. here where i am !

  • 19 years ago

    I'm also in Pinellas County, Clearwater to be exact. What part of the county are you in? Yeah, like I said, if the new spear is growing, you should be ok. You might have stunted growth on the first frond or two if the cold bothered it that much. Good luck.

    Shaun

  • 19 years ago

    I can understand your point that some look good and others don't. But what I have found is each palm is different and also the dirt can be also.

  • 19 years ago

    I am permanently moving from Chicago to the SW Orlando suburbs in the next few months so I'm going to attempt a coco palm there as well. From reading other postings, it seems there are a few in that area so I may as well give it a try. Hell, I try much more risky palms here in Chicago than doing a coco palm in Orlando.

    It seems that the Orlando area has really become a zone 10a over the past decade or so. The outdated chart ranks that area as a 9b but I looked up coldest temps for the past several years and it rarely gets below 40F, 30-35F being the absolute worst in the recent past.

  • 19 years ago

    I am permanently moving from Chicago to the SW Orlando suburbs in the next few months so I'm going to attempt a coco palm there as well. From reading other postings, it seems there are a few in that area so I may as well give it a try. Hell, I try much more risky palms here in Chicago than doing a coco palm in Orlando.

    It seems that the Orlando area has really become a zone 10a over the past decade or so. The outdated chart ranks that area as a 9b but I looked up coldest temps for the past several years and it rarely gets below 40F, 30-35F being the absolute worst in the recent past.

    What a change from Chicago that'll be! We're lucky to see 30-35F even as daytime highs in the winter!!

  • 19 years ago

    Hey Palmshaun...I had to get the kids to help me put them back in. That spindle palm weights over 100 lbs or more, or feels like it. The queens not to bad yet. I need a small fork lift in a few years.

    I still have them in the greenhouse, if I find some time, I am going to unload this weekend.

  • 19 years ago

    I would definitely try a coconut in Orlando. I went to Sea World last weekend and they had many tall, fruiting coconut palms there. I haven't had a chance to upload any pictures but when I do, I'll post them.

    Welcome to Florida

    I had to get the kids to help me put them back in.

    You should have made them do all the work while you watched over them with a mojito in your hand. LOL

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks, palmshaun. I'm really excited to get down there and would be there tomorrow if I could, but I gotta stick it out with my employer til the end of summer. Fruiting coconuts in Orlando--very encouraging to hear!! =) I'd love to see the pictures when you have a chance to upload.

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