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patbatzu

Cocanut tree help

patbatzu
12 years ago

I have a coconut tree I keep in a pot I have had it for a year now. I have not exposed it to temps below 50, During the summer it is normally 70 - 90F. It has been getting 15 hours of light each day sense early June our summers are 16 hours of light. The new frond is turning yellow i have no idea why, We don't have lethal yellowing here to far north what could be the cause of this i love this tree i want it to be healthy please help. The old frond is irrelevant it has looked like crap for a long time now. The new one being slightly yellow and brown at the tips is a bit concerning.

{{gwi:1147822}}

Comments (13)

  • Hunter_M
    12 years ago

    I dont know what to tell you, man. My coconut has not had yellowing. Ive only had mine for about 2 months and mine is 4 ft tall. I dont know if it is because mine is bigger or not. I have a majesty palm and several months ago I left it alone for a week. Also the house was about 55 degrees when we left. Im guessing cold got to mine and when I got back, half of the fronds were dead. Im not a palm expert, Im far from it, but I cut off all of the dead fronds and its now growing back. I dont if you should do this, but it worked for me.I didnt have my coconut at the time and I dont know if a coconut would like the fronds to be cut off or not. Are you sure its not cold damage because I dont know what else it could be. My main fronds on my coconut are about the same color as your back ones. I dont know if thats bad or not. It didnt have the goldish green color untill I put it outside. Im sorry I cant help you much.
    -Hunter

  • us_marine
    12 years ago

    From my experience,(I am not an expert or anything), I noticed them doing that when they got sun burned or turn lighter green with a hint of yellow because they were the golden malayan variety.

    Now I don't know what variety yours is, cant tell if the stems are green or goldish yellow. From what you said and judging from the pic it looks like its a little sun burn. I am guessing you kept it in your house next to a bright window. How many hours of light do you think it got while inside, and how much direct light? If I were you I would put her in shade and slowly introduce her to direct light, taking her into direct light may cause burn. Filtered light is best, like under a tree. I noticed you used some fertilizer, did you just add some? That could be it too if you added too much.

    -US_Marine

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    @ US marine: The one frond got really badly burned because of my grow-light during the winter the new frond seems to be turning yellow. I did give it some fertilizer but not too much. And it is a Jamaican tall. Is it possible for these to get too much sun? I live at 45 degrees north so in the high summer we get 16 hours of light and 8 hours of night. the tree usually gets about 12 hours of direct light then about 4 hours of shade during light hours, then 8 hours of night.

    -Patrick

    @ hunter: I do not believe it could be cold damage because the temperatures here have been very warm not colder than 75 in the day and never below 55. The last 2 weeks have been very hot, Probably upper 80's to low 90's and at night not below 65. I am trying to wonder what could be causing this is it possible for these to get too much sun?

    - Patrick

  • Hunter_M
    12 years ago

    Im not sure about the browning but I think the gold color is because its in the sun. Heres my coconut:

    I have a little brown on the tops but I think it is because of the ship from PR to ohio:

    I had mine inside and it was all green but when I put it outside I started to notice some yellow:

    Hope I helped!
    -Hunter

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    So tomorrow i will for sure move it in to more shade. How much sun do you give yours? It looks very healthy. Al tho i may want to point out that the soil you have it in looks like it holds water a little to well.

  • Hunter_M
    12 years ago

    Im not sure how long, but I think mines in full sun. Also, what do you mean about the soil? I think I watered it before I took the pics.

  • subtropix
    12 years ago

    I don't think your coconut looks too bad. The younger leaf is somewhat yellow but the new leaves should grow out of it. My bigger concern is that your coconut might not be getting enough water. Difficult to tell from the picture, but how deep is the container. Palms don't mind being somewhat snug in the container but the pots need to be deep enough for the roots and for the soil to retain some moisture. From the pic, the container appears shallow. Also, as an earlier poster suggests, your mix may be too peaty. Peat moss is notorious for holding on to water but this time of year, it is probably more likely the other problem with peat moss--once it does dry out, it nearly impossible to get it HOLD water. Mine is in a deeper pot with a mix of 50% coarse sand. It sits on a HOT blacktop drive way and I water it every day (temps average 90 F plus day, and 70-75 night in that location) and when it's really hot, I'll water twice a day. If the container is large enough and you are watering enough, then it may be a nutritional deficiency. I generally use a high nitrogen fertilizer with micronutrients and the occasional watering with Epsom salts.--I believe it's one tablespoon per gallon on the salts. As for sun, coconuts are full sun lovers--all day. But it's also true that they may develop a greener color with some degree of shading from the hottest sun.

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    @njoasis: I don't water it very much at all because my last one got root rot and it passed and made me very sad. So I do not water it very much at all. Maybe once every 2 weeks or so. I live in northern MI so Sunlight is no issue, I have it on the south side of the porch to shield it from the arctic wind, Witch is normally not an issue this time of year. I do give it fertilizer the tree only has 2 roots out of the coconut and 2-3 new ones are growing. The soil mix is desert sand and pearlite and Citrus and palm mix.

  • us_marine
    12 years ago

    I think its acclimatizing to the sunlight still. It will be fine as long as you dont have it in full sun until its used to it. Temps wouldn't really do that unless its in the 30fs and low 40fs alot. I had one outside here in winter and she never yellowed. Average winter temps 55f/41f.

    When yours got root rot how did she decline? I had one for 4 years until this april when she died out of nowhere. At first I thought it was root rot but temps were warm enough to keep that from hapening and I didnt water much. When I looked at the palms roots they seemed fine and were to shockingly still strong. What I did notice is the heating cables where burnt and falling apart, which makes me believe mine was shocked to death :( She was healthy one day then the next she declined fast. The cables were always on during winter but it supposed to shut off when soil temps are 68f or above which alot of the time it should have been.

    - US_Marine

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    @US_Marine: Well, About November 15th it started to show drooping fronds then about 2 weeks later, The bottom of the trunk started to rot meaning the trunk could get moved easily by grabbing the top, Then i noticed Fungus gnats and the fronds turned Grey and at that point the tree had passed the point where it could be saved, I put it outside in the winter to ease its suffering where the temperature one night was -27F. When the ground thawed I gave it a proper burial.

    I am trying to make sure that I take extra special care of this one with is why i want to know all about summer can like how much to water them and sun needs and everything.

  • subtropix
    12 years ago

    Patbatzu, if your palm is in a southern exposure and potted up in such a well-draining soil, then you need to increase watering.--Once in two weeks in not enough. As long as your summer is hot and your palm is getting full sun, I don't think it is possible to over water a coconut at this time of year. BIG difference between issues of potential root rot at this time of year as opposed to cooler months. Coconuts are water lovers at tropical temperatures--as long as the soil drain freely. Good luck.

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/48060

    How much water at these temps
    Coconut tree
    Christmas palm
    Lytocaryum weddellianum

    I have no idea how much water to use.

  • patbatzu
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    -Hunter How much do you water yours?

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