Palms do almost all of their growing at night

As for why humidity is important to tropical plants, they evolved to be suited to humid environments, so they don't have so many adaptations to keep from desiccating

I noticed my coconut palms grow faster than they usually do when night temps are 65f or above. I've only seen a few California coconut palms, I wish there was more. In most of the places I have seen pics of coconut palms in California were strictly house plants or near Southern California's coast where humidity is much higher than mine. It makes me wonder if I am lucky to have coconut palms this long here?
I agree with zeeth. It holds true to many other tropicals I have seen here as well.

I always see the most growth on my plants during the day, but a friend who lives in a tropical place tells me that at night they would HEAT the banana plants push there flowers and fruit out. That must mean they have some serious growth at night!!

Daytime is for photosynthesis - creating sugars
Nightime is for putting those sugars to use - for growth

This is a basic generalization and there are exceptions but basically, growth occurs overnight. Keep in mind also that in tropical latitudes, during the summer the nights are longer than they are in northern latitudes. Plants in the tropics experience a longer growth period as a result.

As for humidity, it reduces transpiration. Plants from humid climates do not always tolerate this. I use antistress 2000, an anti-transpirant, when I keep certain plants growing indoors. Even the ultra-tropical humidity loving Cyrtostachys renda (Sealing Wax Palm) shows no signs of browning leaves or other negative symptoms associated with lower indoor humidity when this polymer coats the leaves. And as a bonus, it keeps mites away.

x

Great information everyone i really appreciate it. I kind of figured that daytime was for producing the energy and nighttime for putting it to use. Days maybe longer here but the sun is not nearly as intense. 10 is the highest UV index I have seen here and that was around the 4th of July. 7-8 is as high as it gets now. Days are noticeably shorter here then just a month ago. If most of the growing happens at night does it make sense to water them at dust as oppoed to morning?

An advantage to nighttime watering is that the soil won't dry out in the heat of the day, enabling plants to hydrate themselves more efficiently. But if you use cold water from a hose, it will also cool down the soil to a certain degree which may not be a good thing.

I'm not sure if watering at night has any benefit to growth.

x

I would think that they grow more at night but not sure. Mine seem to grow all the time but I never put a ruler on them to measure there growth rate.Interesting topic though. I think that the person that made plants put in them how to handle there surroundings myself and they didn't search for a way to learn how to survive for all these years. Thats my opinion and I don't believe in evolution as it is preached but that is another story. I know if you don't go along with the ones that believe in it you are weird or dumb or other but that's what I believe. Andyandy your question is not stupid in fact it is quit intriguing.

Saw this article on another site.

Here is a link that might be useful: palm growth