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butiaman

Coconut Palm cold hardy to the 20's?

butiaman
12 years ago

I stopped by HD today and they had 3gal. coconut palms.The cards on them said cold hardy to the 20's.Is there a coconut palm that is that cold hardy?They were $22 dollars a piece.Is that a good price for one that size?

Comments (16)

  • tropicalzone7
    12 years ago

    Its definitely not a coconut palm if they say its cold hardy to the 20s. Coconut palms of all types cannot handle freezing temperatures for long durations and they are for zone 10a (really more like zone 10b) and up and they need warm night temperatures all year long.
    Good luck!
    -Alex

  • lzrddr
    12 years ago

    buy them and keep the receipts! HD takes all dead plants back and you can get your money back (or at least replace them). Coconuts can survive temps in the 20s briefly, but will usually burn pretty badly. However, if kept at a lower temp for too long, they just curl up and die. Bottle palms are a tad hardier in terms of dealing with longer periods of cool, but will also fry in the 20s (but may not die the first time)... though we are talking 28-29F... not 25F or less. Both are really zone 10b palms. Bismarckias, on the other hand (at least the blue and white forms) do handle temps down into the mid and low 20s quite well, at least once established. But not sure they would survive West Virginia climate... 9b is their absolute minimum climate tolerance.

  • garyfla_gw
    12 years ago

    hi
    I live in s. florida so surrounded with palms of all kinds. The back to back winters have really taken a toll
    on most of the palms , Definitely the MOST damaged were coconuts,in fact the only fatalities in my area.. The low was 28 but I think the BIG difference over the last two winters is the record low daytimes had 48 hours below 45 which was an all time record. I wouldn't expose a coconut to 20's and expect it to survive. Even if it did it would look like crap for the rest of the year lol
    Walmart consistantly sells seedlings in my area for 9.95
    While the same palms in nurseries are 20/30 dollars.
    Good luck with whatever you decide!!! gary

  • jacklord
    12 years ago

    IMHO "Cold Hardy" is becoming one of the more elastic concepts out there.

  • butiaman
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I know coconut palms are not that hardy.I just wanted to stir the pot.See we was moved from zone 7b to 8a this year.Since this move there are all kinds of stores selling palms of all types and saying there cold hardy.I just wanted to see what reaction I would get from people like us on this forum who know palms.Happy spring :)
    Randy

  • stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
    12 years ago

    They are hardy to -270F for one millisecond..after that, back to 85f. The way lows are thrown around,they might be considered hardy on Mars-lol.

  • wetsuiter
    12 years ago

    I've seen several ads, articles and postings about "cold hardy coconut palms" on EBay, Garden Forums and Misc Websites. It is likely that what you saw at Home Depot is most likely this:

    (from EBAY)
    Parajubaea sunkha, common name: Bolivian Coconut, Zunca Palm

    *A stunning palm from the foothills of the Andes Mountains, Bolivia. Rare in cultivation as seed has only recently been made available, and is still quite expensive. The Bolivian Coconut, so named because of its resemblance to the common coconut, and producing edible fruit(much smaller than the common coconut, yet similar in taste), has proven to be cold-hardy into the high teens Farenheit. If you like the look of a coconut, grow this one, it's 20 degrees F more COLD-HARDY. A very robust grower, capable of taking full sun at an early age, these are easily adaptable to a Tropical, Mediterranean, or Arid type garden. A very rewarding plant to grow.

    Or this:

    (From Wikipedia)
    Beccariophoenix alfredii, also known as the High Plateau Coconut Palm, is a recently discovered species of Arecaceae (palms), endemic to Madagascar. It is in the genus Beccariophoenix, and is closely related to the genus Cocos. Beccariophoenix alfredii is very similar in appearance to the coconut palm, although somewhat cold hardy, making it a good look-alike for the coconut in cooler climates.

  • Abe Lincoln
    7 years ago

    Regarding the location of the High Plateau Coconut, see:

    20°08'19.7"S
    46°20'00.6"E

    You will notice the rare Beccariophoenix alfredii palms as well as some strange towering structures amongst them. The nearby structures resemble symmetrical termite mounds or perhaps branchless baobab trees. They are almost more interesting that the palms.

  • PRO
    GardenDude
    7 years ago

    Some species, although it is rare, can survive down to 28 degrees F and recover, after loosing all fronds. But they generally die after being at 35 degrees F for longer than 4 hours.

  • Scott Wallace
    7 years ago

    If you truly want a palm that is cold hardy and gives you the look of a coconut palm, the tree you want is the Butiagrus, aka Mule palm. It's a hybrid cross between Butia capitata and Syagrus romanzoffiana, and they are truly beautiful. Not sure how for North people are growing them, but I know they do well here in NE Florida.


  • dlhvac21
    6 years ago

    I have placed large matts of hog hair hvac filters around base and covered with mulch and used the mist sprayed hooked to my well pump an when the temperature hit 39 deg F I turn on a solenoid valve that sprays the bus with warm well water and it never gets to freezing ever I live near Lakeland which is zone 10

    I use a programmable controller to activate pipe heating cable under the hog hair matts to keep the ground warm around the roots and have had these trees for 12 years and may we burn on leaf tips but that is all system works great never lost a tree

  • dlhvac21
    6 years ago

    By the way dwarf Malay variety love eating fresh coconuts from my own trees


  • davidrt28 (zone 7)
    6 years ago

    I doubt HD was selling either of those rare species. More likely someone in the marketing department just put a BS description on the label; they know that 99% of people aren't going to exercise the refund option.


  • davidrt28 (zone 7)
    6 years ago

    Good luck building the greenhouse you're going to need to grow coconuts in Turkey. Good luck ;)

  • User
    6 years ago

    Strange (: My comments have been destroyed :(