Cocos nucifera
Coconut Palm
Cocos nucifera is a large palm, growing up to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long. and pinnae 60–90 cm long. Once the old leaves break away completely, it leaves a smooth trunk. Coconut palms is monoecious - i.e. it bears both the female and male flowers on the same inflorescence. On fertile soil, a coconut palm tree can produce 50 - 75 fruits per year. In perfect growing conditions, these palms produce their first fruit in 6 - 10 years. Coconut palms are intolerant of cold weather.
Contributed by @skellyshelly
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Full sun
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Frequent watering
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Not Frost hardy
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Light to medium
Common name
Coconut Palm
Latin name
Cocos nucifera
type
Palm Tree
family
Arecaceae
ph
5.0 - 7.5 Acid - Neutral
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
full grown dimensions
Cocos nucifera
Cocos nucifera is a large palm, growing up to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long. and pinnae 60–90 cm long. Once the old leaves break away completely, it leaves a smooth trunk. Coconut palms is monoecious - i.e. it bears both the female and male flowers on the same inflorescence. On fertile soil, a coconut palm tree can produce 50 - 75 fruits per year. In perfect growing conditions, these palms produce their first fruit in 6 - 10 years. Coconut palms are intolerant of cold weather.
Planting young plants
From Early Spring TO Late Winter
Plants can be bought with the distinctive coconut fruit still at the base of the plant, but these palms are difficult houseplants to keep as they require constant high humidity and temperatures. In such conditions, they should be grown on a well-drained sandy soil rich in lime and potash.
Propagation by seed
From Early Spring TO Early Spring
To sprout a coconut palm, bury the nut halfway in moist peat moss and keep it warm and moist for up to six months. If all goes well, eventually you'll see a small green sprout emerge from the top of the nut. For the first year or so, the coconut plant will continue to draw nutrients from the nut itself. Unfortunately, few temperate zone coconuts are able to outgrow this initial burst of nutrients.