growing coconut palms

[mushtaq86]

A bloke at the bottom of my road planted one of these plants out side his house in july,with in a month it was dead i didnt know this man,so i didnt ask him what happened.I am thinking of getting one next year to add to my collection of exotic fruit plants,bananas,mangoes,and one pineapple plant which is still in a cup of water waiting for the roots to sprout.Does any one have any experience of growing coconut palms,can they be used as summer bedding whats the min temp they can take.

[palmking]

The short answer is no! and the long answer is errrrrrr, No!

These are often the topic of humorous debate on various forums, with the crux being who's can survive the longest. If you manage a year and I stress even inside, you are doing well. They would at the very least need a humid tropical greenhouse with grow lighting to survive but not worth bothering unless it's part of a national palmatum.

I do believe i've seen some growing in South Tenerife, though, near the coast but with an average annual temperature above 20 degrees and the humid location, that's about as far north as you'll grow them with any significant success. Global warming I believe has just about allowed them to be tried in parts of Southern California i've heard.

If we had the light levels of the sub tropics and the temperatures to match then they might grow in the humidity of Manchester!!

Cheap and for a reason! B&Q should be forced to sell a warning 'will be dead within a few months!'

Paul.

[AndyC]

I second what Paul has said. I bought one last year and kept it in the conservatory. It was stone dead within 3 months.
The best thing about it was the dried up coconut husk which I lodged in a branch of the Trachycarpus and convinced the mother-in-law it was producing coconuts

[mushtaq86]

Thanks palmking from stop me wasting money on a dead horse,andy that is very funny

[Adrian]

They are only ever sold as house plants, bit like a bunch of flowers for longevity.

[Eddy]

Not that it matters now, but I totally agree with every one.(although they do look good on the BQ shelf)

[Adrian]

Id say buy one if you like them, makes a change from flowers in the house, they are only about a fiver after all, a bunch of flowers will set you back £20 to £30 (unless one of you daughters works at Marks's and gets them in waste for 50p ).

[mushtaq86]

I thought they would be around the 20 pound mark

[stephenprudence]

Depends how big they are really, I guess they have sales sometimes. Ive seen some for £7.99 and I've seen some larger ones for £12.99, a good annual I suppose? You're better off buying an Archontophoenix though really if you like that exotic look.. in fact I'd argue the Archonto looks more exotic.

[themes]

Lidl was selling the in july for a fiver at a fairly big size 5ft with a few fronds, Mushtaq. Afterr leaving it out..I composted it in August

[Darren Turner]

The best thing about it was the dried up coconut husk which I lodged in a branch of the Trachycarpus and convinced the mother-in-law it was producing coconuts

Nice one Andy, very funny.

I purchased one from B&Q for a fiver I think, dead within 3 months.
The leaves went yellow during it's slow death so it didn't look that good either.

D.

[darran]

From my understanding the ones you buy in DIY sheds, etc all die quite quickly!

However, I do know of people growing coconut palms here in the UK, and they have lasted much longer....well they are still living after 3 years The difference is that they have grown them from seed and they have never been outside!!

[mushtaq86]

Themes do you mean you throw it in the bin

[themes]

It passed away quietly in the night.

[mushtaq86]

darran when you say seed do you mean a coconut from the shop,that is planted in soil,because i cant remember seing any seed in a coconut