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Germinating supermarket coconuts posted by Trópico

Here is a link that might be useful: palmtalk.org

I have germinated the coconut before but the heat of my propagator cracked the nut open and it rotted! It can be done, select a spherical coconut with a large, soft germination pore (the biggest 'eye')and make sure the nut has plenty of liquid inside. Quite often if you look at every coconut you may find one with a root already growing!
Good luck!

Greenlarry-
Great post, I'm going to stop at the store and check out some coconuts out.

I forgot about this post. I actually tossed that coconut about 2 months ago. It also split and rotted. Thanks for the info rhizo. I may try again.

When I was a boy in high school back in the '80s, it was a lot easier to sprout a grocery store coconut. Back then they didn't refrigerate them which can kill the seed (which is behind one of the eyes), if they are exposed to cold for too long. Also, in the last 10 years, I have tried sprouting about 60 grocery store and farmers' market coconuts with only about 8 or 9 sproouting. In the '80s, I would have gotten 2- 3 times that number to sprout and survive, which tells me either the growers, the shippers, or the government is doing something to them that prevents them from sprouting. Out of those that I did get to sprout only about 3 survived. It is best if you can find a large one in the husk, then set it out in full sun for a few weeks to let it brown up, then plant it in a 5 gal. pot on its side with a good organic potting soil. Cover it about half to two thirds of the way up the side of the husk. Set it out in full sun in 90+ degree weather and water it once a day until it sprouts (which should take about 2-3 months, but may take as long as 4-5 months). You can try thsi too with the unhusked ones, but many of these as stated above quickly crack open and then are no good.

I have a beautiful sprout growing out of an HEB grocery store coconut that I bought in Bryan, Texas back in the spring. It is in the husk and was green when I bought it. I let it brown up for about a month before I planted it. I planted it in April and it sprouted the end of June. It is now about 5 inches tall. Like I said, you have better luck if they are in the husk, and the bigger, the better (about 8-10 inches long and 6-7 inches wide). Don't fetilize them until they are about 9-10 months old. The sprouts feed off the nutrients in the milk for the first 6-8 months until they have a root system developed. Use a good palm fertilizer with the Nitrogen content higher than the phosphorous and potassium content, and make sure it has the micronutrients. You only need to fertilize them 3 times per year, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Take it inside whenever the nighttime temperatures are predicted to get below 40 or when the daytime highs are only going to be in the 50's for a prolonged period. Once they sprout, water them 2-3 times per week in the summer, 1-2 times per week in the winter. Enjoy!

John

what medium did he have that coconut in? looked like bark mulch. Do you keep the medium dry, moist, or wet?

Great post, Coconut Palm. I've never had the patience to try and sprout a coconut. But like you say, you gotta have heat for months for it to even be possible. How's your soil down there in the Rio Grande Valley? I had to deal with Florida sand and fertilizing most palms was essential or they turned yellow, especially queens and Malayans.

David,

The soil here is pretty good. Citrus , mangoes, papayas, avodadoes, etc. grow great here. It is a really rich medium brown colored soil, but some areas have a lot of clay content, so you have to amend the soil in those areas, otherwise the soil retains too much moisture (especially in a wet year like this one), which can rot the roots. Palms, as well as most plants like a well drained soil, even the species like coconut palms that come from wet areas, still like a well drained soil, so that their roots are not just soaking in water. Here, by the way, the queens look really good and apparently need less fertilizer than they do in Florida. I guess we don't have a Manganese deficiency here like you guys have over there- very little if any "frizzle top" over here.

John

I went to my local Morrisons store today and I was amazed when I saw how many had started germinating! At least 5 of a tray of 20 were growing a pale 'button'. Last week I went to another store- Tesco and they had green coconuts complete with the husk called 'cocos verde' but their dehusked coconuts were not sprouting -perhaps they were treated with an anti-growth solution. I know the UK supermarket Tesco comes from a USA Supermarket called Target, maybe people in the USA could try there for coconuts complete with the husk! I have also found out that other people in my hardiness zone 9b (in brownsville, TX) are growing green malayans outside!
Good luck!
James

I WILL TRY AND MAKE THIS SHOT; IT IS E-Z TO GROW A SUPPERMARKET COCONUT, I DID IT. AFTER YOU TAKE ONE HOME FILL A 10" PLANT POT WITH SEED STARTER, PLACE THE NUT 1/3 DEEP IN THE MIX WITH THE EYE FACE UP AT 45%, EITHER FIND A CLEAR BOUL THAT FITS OVER OR INSIDE THE PLANT POT OR MAKE SOMETHING FROM CLEAR RAP AND STICKS, WET THE MIX AND USE A SPRAY TO KEEP THE EYES OF THE NUT WET FINED A WORM PLACE I USED A 40 WATT LIGHT IN A POT UNDER THE NUT POT TILL SEEN IT OPEN AND THE RUT COME OUT. KEEP DOING THIS TILL YOU SEE GREEN THEN TAKE THE COVER OFF. KEEP IT SPRAYED BUT NOT TO WET IT WILL GET FUNG-I AND DON'T TAKE IT OUT IN FULL SUN BEFORE IT GET'S ABOUT 12" AT THAT TIME GIVE IT 2Hrs FIRST WEEK, 4HRS 2nd WEEK, FULL SUN AFTER THAT AND DON'T LET IT DRY OUT OR GET COLD. HOPE THIS WORKS FOR YOU IT WORKS FOR ME.

After about three weeks, the water in the plastic bag with my coconut that had some husks was dark brown - almost like coffee. I shook the coconut slightly and did not hear any fluid inside the coconut. Is this normal? - good thing? bad thing? I'm about one month into the germination process now. I changed the water on the coconut and it has not been dark since.

If you can't hear any water in it, it is either chuck full, or empty, and you can tell by the weight. Heavy coconut, full of water.👍 Light coconut, empty!👎