Growing coconut meat outside the tropics ? How can this be possible ?
After all , we all know that coconuts ca n’t take frost .
If you force back on I-95 through my home base commonwealth of Florida , it ’s readily obvious where the coconut palms commence . It ’s like a line you interbreed somewhere a little Union of Palm Beach … and then there they are .
Florida is n’t a tropical res publica for the most part . It ’s close , but not quite . North of the southerly tip of the state , with the exception of a few sheltered sphere , the coconuts go away .
On my north Florida homestead a flake to the south of Gainesville , it was inconceivable to grow coco palm ribbon . The overnight lows would sometimes hit the stripling . On one night , I measured a first of 12F. That ’s 20 degrees below weather that can shoot down a coco palm palm .
So I did some thought about coconut palms and the path they grow . First , they take warmth year - round – or at least protection from stop dead weather – and they need space to reach maturity date .
Let ’s see how this could possibly be done .
Growing Coconuts in a Greenhouse
A nursery is the consistent option for growing coconuts outside the tropical zone , right ?
Sure … but do you have any melodic theme how tall coconut medallion can get ?
The full - sized varieties can almost hit 100′ , so that ’s apparently not going to work .
fortuitously , there are dwarf varieties of coconut palms that will bear fruit at around 8′ tall and only get perhaps to 20′.
“ But look , ” you say , “ that ’s TOO tall for a backyard glasshouse ! ”
right .
My favorite inexpensive greenhousehas 9′ headway in the middle . Let ’s just say we ’re growing in one that has an 8′ roof . That ’s passably normal for a backyard greenhouse .
So the only place to go … is down .
apprehend a pit beneath the nursery and put the greenhouse over the top of it . This will gain you another 6′ of headspace .
Like this :
“ But wait … that ’s just a little baby coconut palm in the photograph you drew , David The Good ! And the utter height is only 14′ , which is better than 8 ’ … but still , you said the coconut palm could get up to 20′ tall ! ”
Very good objection – but think about it further . Have you ever seen pictures of coconut medallion growing sideways along the shoreline ?
Pictures like this ?
Coconuts have the ability to be blown sideways , then recover , flex upwardly and keep growing .
What if we used that ability to our advantage ?
What if one implant a cocoanut palm in a tumid pot at one goal of the greenhouse , then get it grow until it almost score the ceiling , then tipped it over , like this :
“ No ! It look stagnant ! ”
It ’ll be okay – do n’t worry . It seem sad now , but look !
When you set the coconut palm on its side , I ’d also put a match of blocks beneath the trunk to support it , which also would make it into a baby-sit bench for one side of your greenhouse .
In a short period of prison term , the coconut tree is operate to come out growing upwards again , like this :
Now your nursery coconut medallion tree can hit its full , fat size without pick apart the top off its tax shelter … and you could potentially get your own coconuts far from the sunny tropics .
Further Thoughts And Possibilities
Since I have n’t tested this idea , I ca n’t say for certain if it will work . My gut says it will , approximate by what I ’ve check of coconut palms as well as the fact that I ’ve seen a perdition greenhouse like the one in the drawing . It hosted jack , starfruit , miracle yield and other completely tropical species despite the fact that it was located in a cold part of Florida at least 3 - 4 hours from where those coinage can survive .
If you live much further Frederick North , you would have to keep the glasshouse heated . Barrels of water work here in North Florida but I ’m certain they wo n’t cultivate in places with extended periods of below - freezing weather . Up in Tennessee you ’d likely have to have a double - isolate greenhouse with a hummer . In Minnesota , you ’d have to own a power companionship to keep it warm enough .
That articulate , for those of us that ca n’t stop experiment , the pit greenhouse idea opens up a plenty of possibility for growing encapsulated mini food forests with productive specie hailing from region much further south than our own . In South Carolina you could grow citrus trees this way . In Canada you could produce Japanese persimmons .
The theory are gripping !
I plan to eventually build a nursery like this and grow at least a mates of coconut palm in it just for merriment … but now that I ’m move further south it ’s not move to take place .
Other possibilities for turn coconuts outside the tropical zone and for grow tropical plants in regions where they ’re not “ supposed ” to grow are discussed in the fascinating bookPalms Wo n’t develop Here and Other Mythsby David A. Francko .
Though the book is focused on ornamental species , the ideas Francko unlocks are worth the terms of admission . in reality , I should invite him to join me onThe Survival Gardener Podcast . The man has done amazing thing and it ’s fun to try about just how unhinged you may get with advertise growing zones .
So – anyone up for the challenge of grow coconut palm in a temperate climate ? break up up the torch and make it chance – I ’m dying to know if the idea will work . Tell me if you take out it off .
- Coconut postcard epitome courtesy of theBoston Public Library . Creative park licence .
