Plant now and ask questions later! :)

Order one off of e-bay and have it shipped from Hawaii. It will be a seed that is just sproutin but it could be a couple feet tall by end of summer. It could be 6 feet tall by next summer.

Remember this is Ohio . So we have to grow it indoors.

Are people having luck with coconut palms? I tried three sprouted nuts at various times and killed them all. have luck with other palms, and find them easy to grow. I have med. fan palm that is 35 years old, but no luck with coconuts. Must be doing something wrong.

Nucci60-
I believe you can grow a coconut indoor/outdoor succesfully. It depends on what your goal is. If you want a palm you can just stick in the corner and water once in a while then a coconut is not for you. If you're starting a newly sprouted one late spring is the time to get it. If early spring put a grow light over it. If late spring just leave it outside. The trick is when it's inside all those months (October-May). This is what I did. I got mine from Hawaii in mid April 2005. I put it in a south facing window with a grow light helping. Anytime I was home (weekends) and it would be sunny and high 60s+ I would take it outside for the day. Once night time lows stopped dropping below low 50s I left it out for the summer. I brought it back inside in late September (again in the same south facing window) again anytime weather permitted (60+) I would take it outside even if for only a couple of hours. The room I kept it in has a 5x3 south facing window so when sunny even in the dead of winter the temperature could rise into the mid 70s. I kept my house at about 68-70 so it would never drop below that. I have heard that 60 is the lowest soil temperature you want a coconut to experience over a prolonged period. A bigger problem for coconuts (and many other palms) more than lack of heat are spider mites and scale. To keep them at bay I kept a fan in the room and would turn it on before I left for work and off when I got home. I would also mist the entire plant with water a couple times a day. natural rain and wind is the best prevention so even if it's the middle of January if your area has a freek warm front and it's rainy and 60 drag it outside for even just a little while. My "Pacific Tall" was about 10 inches when I got it and is now 5 feet tall. eventually a coconut will get too big and you would need to figure out what to do with it (I plan on giving mine to a local conservetory with an 80 foot dome). I hope to be able to keep it through next summer before I give it up. It is now just starting to feather and look like an adult palm instead of a giant seedling. it continued to show steady growth all winter long. I have a new "tall" and a green "dwarf" that will be moved inside this fall. Another important thing to remember about watering them is in summer when it is in the 80s consistantly you can almost not water it enough. They LOVE water when it is hot. Conversly in the winter you want to water it very little. Keep the soil (well draining soil is a must) barely moist. If you water it too much in a steady 60s envirnment it will get root rot.
It sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't (especially if you enjoy it) Turning on and off a fan takes a second, misting a couple of times a day takes a minute, you only water it every couple of weeks in the winter. The hardest part especially as it gets bigger is dragging it in and out when weather permits (example I dragged it out twice in October, once in November, once in February, a couple of times in March, but then in April it gets tougher as 60s and 70s become fairly frequest but it's still dropping down into the 40s so you can't leave it out overnight). Dragging it in and out in April also helps it get acclimated to full overhad sun so that the new weaker winter growth doesn't get all brown and withered under 80 degree sun.
I hope this helps, I grow all sorts of palms but my coconut has been the most satisfying because of the incredible rate of growth and the tropical look it adds to my house on those cold winter nights. One last thing the "dwarf" varieties grow quite a bit slower but they feather at an earlier stage of growth. I say go for it and good luck in whatever you decide to grow.

Andy

wow andyandy, you surely helped me. Ithink my winter problem was probably overwatering. I will keep all your suggestions in mind. people like you make these forums great!

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad I could help. Please let me know if you get one. I'll help any way I can.

Andy

Great advice Andy, glad to hear of your continued success.

scaldude-
Yes happily it is still doing quite well. We hit high 80s around memorial day and hit 93 on memorial day. It was only droping to about 70 because the dew point was so high. The spear shot up like a lance as did the one on my new one. My green dwarf doesn't grow quite as fast. Then about a week ago a cold front moved through and we barely hit 70 a couple of days. it was also falling to the high 40s at night. I thought about bringing them in but I left them out and they were fine. We have another warm front hitting (87 today and 93 tomorrow, and then mid 80s as far as the eye can see). I think a big part about my success is the fact that it was VERY hot here last summer. I hope we're headed in the same direction this summer. These palms must just explode down in Florida but down there they're all over the place so they aren't as uniquie. It's a safe bet there aren't too many people up here with a 5 foot coconut palm. I hope your palm is still doing well. It's a lot of fun when you come home and can see additional growth in just 24 hours.

With those temps, I'm sure the humidity in MI is pretty high too, huh?

It's funny, I have a new spear that wasn't really growing until a couple of days ago and now it's taking off. You're right about the watering, they can't get enough this time of year.

As soon as I get the "heat cable" I ordered online, I'll transplant my cocopalm into a wine barrel. I'm stubborn and want to grow this outdoors. The air temp here is not the problem, it's the soil temp not staying warm enough due to overcast...not enough thermal heat from the sun. Was it someone in San Diego using the heating cable? I wonder how their cocopalm is doing?

Actually it was very dry this past weekend. We hit 89 Friday and 90 Saturday but the humidity was about 35%. There was also a great breeze so it never felt uncomfortable. The humidity rolled in yesterday with some rain. It was mid 80s and will be the same today. 78 sunny and pleasant tomorrow. I think the humidity thing is blown up a bit when it comes to coconuts. As long as it's hot and they get plenty of water they will excel. I think what the humidity does is keep the dew point anf nightime temps up. For example we hit 89 Friday but it fell to 66 that night. In Miami it may have gotten to 87 but only fell into the high 70s at night so their average temperature was higher. Higher average temperature the faster a coconut will grow. It is amazing though how just 80 and sun will get them going. I can see new growth daily when I get home from work. Especially now that we're having some of the longest days of the year. I hope it keeps up we're supposed to have a couple more high 80s days this week but low 80s next week.

Andy, I wish I had your humidity. Have to wait another month then we'll have two months of good moisture in the air.

I have two in pots here in Phoenix set under Royal Palms etc in the ground. Filtered light.

Sunday 112 with humidity in the single digits. Brutal.

They look OK though. Trying to get some size before winter comes again.

Good luck everyone.

Sonotaps-
I wondered how coconuts would do in your area. I would have thought TOO MUCH heat. You must need to water it several times a day. I would mist the hell out of it also. Come winter though you probably have ideal weather for it. Good luck to you as well.

ScDude and Sonottaps-
I finally have pictures posted. "Coconut do grow in Michigan". I would love to see some updated pictures of yours.

...on my way

Orchiddude- Please read my above explination on how I got my coconut to grow indoor/outdoor. It's kind of lengthy but it's detailed. I'd hate to see you give up because of 1 bad experience. In your warmer climate it should be easier for you than me.

Thanks Andy, you make me want to get one today. I am going to wait until spring and start again.

Cool- You'll enjoy it.

Glad to see that there are people out there other than myself, who has been embellished for some reasons by the POWERS of the cocoanut Palm.... Trying to grow them, where they are not suitable for growing... and through Trial and error i finally have gotten a Palm 4ft tall from a seed. and that has been indoor ed growing ONLY ..Now after reading several comments "especially by Andy" He really seems to know his NUTS !!! I have a Question.. When you bring your Palms outside for the summer.. what kind if light conditions do set the Palms at.. Shade-full sun- partial sun... I am a long islander and also trying to bring alittle tropical setting up this way...lol thankz

Pay2learn-
Because I would move mine in and out all spring until it's warm enough to leave out for the summer I just put it in full sun. In addition I would give it as much direct sun over the winter as I could. It certainly would not hurt to put it in filtered sun for a couple of weeks and them move it to full sun for the balance of the summer. Then watct out and see it grow.