In the ground? Wow, I must admit I never heard anything like it in a zone 8, but I would never discourage it. Temps really should be in the 80s and humidity has to be pretty high (but not too high) night temps consistently below 50F will slow it down and make it just stop growing. One freezing temp and you can say goodbye especially if it doesnt get warm very quickly after. i have heard that during the winter even in areas like miami they grow very slow (no cold damage, just slow growth) and they dont start growing fast again until late spring.

i got my coconut off ebay for only 15 dollars, but I dont think they would be easy to find in northern florida. Mine came from miami and was a newly sprouted plant. One year later and it is 4 feet tall (still no split leaves though). It stays in a room where the temp varies from 75-85 during the day and 65-75 at night. It grows pretty well in there, but not too quickly.

good luck!

Yeah pretty brave eh? It's my understanding that a majesty palm has a similar lack of "sense of humor" when it comes to cold temperatures, so if I can keep a majesty palm alive in the ground, hopefully a coconut can make it too.

I took some nice pics of my greenhouse which I'll post on here. My neighbors think I am crazy - it's 8 feet tall, 9 feet wide, and 46 feet long and looks like a giant glow worm. The coldest it's gotten to was 41 degrees one night (while it was 14 outside). Since it virtually never goes below 10 here, I would say my greenhouse is frost-proof (barring a storm which would rip it away!).

It heats up nicely in the sun so even though it only went to 42 outside today it reached 71 in the greenhouse. I would predict a coconut would manage in this. My lemon tree is even flowering. Guava and papaya are also (slowly) growing.

I live near the Pensacola area and I have never seen one over this way, so I'd assume you won't find one in the Jax area either.

Just an FYI, you dont have to go all the way to FL to get them. Merrifeild garden centers here in NoVA had them, as did the Home Depot in Alexandria on Picket Street. I personally wouldnt try one unless I had a huge greenhouse, but I do love them! Good luck to you!!!

I think it may work in the greenhouse. 41 won't even phase the cocos. My coconut palm has been in the ground fir
2 years here in central Florida 9b/10a. It's seen plenty of 30s, and the thing that's ever harmed it was frost. Daytime winter average highs here are low 70s, but can go nearly a week without ever making it past 65. Still not a problem-many of these palms can be found in my area in protected microclimates such as lakefronts.

I commute the Jax - Lake City region often and the Lake City Wal-Mart Super Center had at least 4 cocos this past Sunday. They were tagged Malayan, about 3 ft tall and probably in 3 gallon pots. $16 each. hey all looked good. Almost got one myself but was in a hurry. Hope that helps.

Well, I guess you get what you pay for - I called the Wal Mart in Lake City and asked for the Garden Center.... the person who answered (in the garden center) didn't know what a coconut palm was. She then asked around, and came back to the phone "nobody here knows. Sorry."

Luckily, I have a mother in law who JUST HAPPENED to be 2 miles from the Wal Mart in Lake City (which is where we were headed).

BAM. 2 coconut palms for me :)

Thank you so so much. I sincerely hope I don't kill them.

Brad in Chesapeake.

Laura in VB - want one? :)

That's cool you got 2. Actualy they were probably 4-5ft tall (counting the pot) cause the tallest leaves were past my chest and their strap leaves were splitting (pre-feathering).

Glad you found some, now comes the hard (and fun) part.

Good luck!

Hey Brad,

I would be very happy to adopt a new Coconut Palm!!!

Thanks for the offer...Email me with the details etc.
and we can figure it all out!!!

Thanks Brad!!!

Laura in VB

Check this out, there is a poster on palmtalk who has been growing them in Mississippi for years, and is getting them to fruit.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=19656

He has pics of how he protects them in the winter, so that'll give you some idea on how to do it yourself. He grows them sideways so they don't gain vertical height as fast, so they can last longer in the greenhouse. Keep in mind, when grown well, they are fast, so they may outgrow your greenhouse quickly. Good luck! They also need more protection than Majesty palms, as they are about 1 zone less hardy, but when properly watered and fertilized, they can stand more cold than they would otherwise.

Here is a link that might be useful: Coconuts in Mississippi

Yes, in Orange Park off Blanding Boulevard at Argyle Forest Blvd. Unique Palms and Plants, this guy has all sorts of palms, including Xmas, 5 trunked and more pygmy dates mixed with queens, a gigantic 18ft Coconut Palm, and several 10ft coconut palms and they have hard wood as well. His place is behind a Longhorn Steakhouse and this is the place where I got my 3 trunked Foxtail Palm.

Jaxboro is right. It's only 8 or so miles south from I-10 right off of I-295. I go by that place all the time and forgot about them. They have a lot of specimen sized palms. I almost bought a sweet double trunk Queen from there. Good prices too. (if your looking for anything else)

Majesty palms are more cold hardy than coconuts. Majesty's can take down to 26 if there healthy and its a short duration but coconuts start looking crappy when it gets below 40 and die in the 20s.Ground temps affect coconuts as well. Hope the best for you but it will take allot of work to keep it alive.

Wow, good luck! I agree with David, Majesty palms and coconut palms are very different in terms of requirements. I've had a majesty in the ground here for three years and it doesn't mind the cold ground temperatures, or the cold rain we get in the winter. A coconut (as many in California have tried), cannot tolerate cold ground temperatures. Majesty palms have no problem with that, and the proof lies in the fact that they are planted in home gardens throughout California (Southern CA, Central Coast, Bay Area & inland even as far north as Sacramento and throughout the Central Valley).

Well, they are in their new home in Virginia, and already look unhappy from the 12 hour car ride home from Florida. Although I don't imagine getting them through this winter (and summer) is going to be THAT difficult, it of course is this winter coming (2010-11) that will show whether I can do this or not.

A red navel orange tree loaded with flowers (which was good - it offset the smells associated with having two teenagers riding in the car the whole way too) hitched a ride with them :) I can't resist.

Update:

Both coconuts died within a 3 weeks of being home. Last winter's brutal temps and my struggles to keep the greenhouse in one piece resulted in 2 dead coconuts. :(

Laura in VB - if you're still on here - that's why you never got one. Sorry.

However, I am not discouraged.....

Generation 2 greenhouse is WAY stronger, better insulated, better heated etc. Temps dropped to 39 F ONCE during a power failure, and otherwise never fall below 48 at night. Day temps are routinely over 70 (usually 75-90).

I don't know if this helps, but by way of comparison - my Cavendish banana flowered and is producing a huge bunch of fruit, all my citrus trees (especially the lemon) are flowering like crazy and growing fast. I would take this as a sign that a coconut should manage such conditions.

SO - I have located a 5' tall coconut palm at a Home Depot in Jacksonville which I will take home this weekend. Hopefully the combination of getting in there with the worst of the winter behind us (hopefully), it being a bigger tree, and the improved greenhouse will mean success.

It should do well in those conditions. Mine does well in 68f-72f temps by a sunny south facing window during winter. I have mine for a few years now; she's about 3ft tall and 4ft wide.
Good luck and keep us updated! :)
- US_Marine

I agree, it should do okay. Just make sure that night temperatures dont dip too low. 50F should be the coldest and some nights in the 40's wont do harm as long as it warms up to the 70s in the day, My coconut palms are doing pretty well indoors and its seeing mainly low to mid 70s during the day and upper 60s to low 70s at night (plus the dry air that comes with being indoors this time of the year).
Good luck! Glad you got a banana to fruit in their!
-Alex

I picked up this coconut... I admit I am not very happy about it's condition... it's clear it's been outside in the 50s in Jacksonville. It's 6 feet tall but only has one complete leaf.

Right now it's basking in my greenhouse (66 degrees, even now at 11 pm). Should reach the 80s tomorrow and most days... I've got my fingers crossed. Hopefully next winter I'll be posting pics of a big healthy coconut.