At our local Lowes today they had small coconut trees....with the tree growing right out of the husk of the coconut! The label had a monkey on it, and it said something like: Going Coconutz!!!! Pretty neat! I had never seen a seedling....It was about 2 ft tall. They wanted.....I believe $29 or $39! Unbelieveable! And yes, I paid the $29 for my first plumeria, a few years ago, so I guess that's not so bad.
When we lived in Hawaii we had 9 very tall trees that lined the back yard. When the coconuts got ripe, Dad would hire someone to go up and pick them. If they fell while my little sisters were playing outback, it could have been very dangerous! So the backyard was "kapu" (keep out or off limits) until the trees had been cleaned out.
Most of the coconuts I've seen around here for sale are already husked....but the next one I see that isn't just may end up in a pot of soil!
Lowes has coconut trees
Are you going to buy one? I have recently bought a couple of minature coconuts - think they were called Samoan. You can pick the nuts from the ground although I haven't had a crop yet.
We have some friends from Micronesia who come over to harvest our coconuts while they are still young by climbing barefoot up the trees and throwing a rope around the branch (is that what it's called?) and lowering it to the ground. They then husk them right on the spot with machettes and we stick a straw in them to drink the milk. Its a great hit at a party! Plenty for everyone to take home.
Your Dad was quite right to keep the area Kapu...people have been killed by being hit on the head by a coconut. Most of our trees round here are kept cocnut-less because of the danger, but in some of the wilder parks there are signs posted to beware of falling coconuts....
I am sure Carol probably has them sprouting all over the place in her paradise....I have even seen them sprouting on the beach in sand....
This is one of my trees.
No, probably not. It wold have to be protected every winter!
Can I just adopt yours? I'll send tree support if I can come and visit it every once in awhile? Smile :0)
LOL! Consider yourself an adoptive Mom! You are welcome to visit anytime you are in the neighborhood!
I wish! Would you put my tree support in a savings account so it's Mommy can come visit?
You'll have to talk to it, give it a hug (when there aren't any coconuts up there) cause it will probably be a very long time! Wishfull thinking!
I hope I am not going to have to take you to Court for this tree support?!!!!
Save your pennies and plan on Septermber, fares are usually cheaper then - we have plenty of room (and coconuts!)
You just might! Then I would have to come there, now wouldn't I? LOL
That would be wonderful! I love the islands soooo much. I am sitting here in my seafoam green muumuu.....even wore it to Lowes......Some people probably thought I was in my nightie.....or nuts....as in going COCONUTZ. Yep, they are probably right.
I told my son that I wanted a Brudder IZ CD for Christmas.....he said that he would order it. He has a fantastic voice! So peacefull, so tranquill, just like the islands and all of the tropical plants including coconuts......back to our regularly scheduled program......stay on topic....focus......D R E A M Yeh! Aloha!
So do coconuts need a husk on to germinate?....when they take it off does it hurt something?......I am just curious.Does the husk stop the nut from rotting before it can grow?
I did not know you had been an Islander 77.......wow that must be hard.......they say you can't miss what you have never known......but you have known.
How do you deal with that? Coconuts must make you homesick?
As far as I know the coconut does need the husk on to germinate. Here's an instructional leaflet:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/OF-25.pdf
Thanks LariAnn, that was interesting! If I do find one with a husk I would have to keep it outside.....I have cats. They nibble on anything green.
Chrissy, yes, we spent approx 2 1/2 years there! It was fantastic! Some of the best years of my life....so beautifull. Totally loved it! I love Texas, but there will always be a special place in my heart for Hawaii! My first date was to Waikiki Beach!
My parents loved to roam the island....always an adventure! They have the blue-ist skies and the blue blue water! Totally love the Pali mountains, and the many water falls. Love the music, dances, love the people! Love the relaxed attitude! It was so nice! Just loverly! Aloha!
Of course the dreamer here had to get a coconut. I bought it at the Kauai Botanical Gardens and Research center.. I Fedex it to myself along with tons of other seeds. It got to about 4 feet tall, and of course it even made it through the freeze we had. It was my bad gardener self that decided to move it...and not in the right location either...died this year...it lived 2 winters.
I can't imagine that it would live in a pot. I've never seen one in a pot.
I actually have two very active Hawaiin woodrose vines on their second year...wonder if they will produce flowers this year!
This message was edited Oct 3, 2007 6:59 PM
Thanks for the lovely picture Randy! So sorry it died....and after two years, four ft high...totally heartbreaking! So sorry!
Tgal, go to iTunes.com and you download all of Bro Iz. That's what I have done. Make my own cd's but play it all the time on the pc.
Christi, How much are they a song? Do they have the entire album?
The only thing is right now my CD burner doesn't work....but I could play them on the PC, like you said. Thanks!
They are 99 cents per song or...$9.99 per complete cd.....less than the hard cd and so easy....downloads in minutes..
Great! I may go get some! Thanks!
I knew as soon as I saw your Brudder Iz comment that LouC would send you in the right direction. I have never seen a haole so completely adopt an island icon as Christi has Brother Iz.
We use the coconuts as golf hole markers, and they are often sprouting...even through the paint used for color coding the holes. DO Not pay those prices! If you want one, let me know, and I will happily send.
right on. We have wireless speakers that I have plugged the base into the pc and can take the speakers outside......with all the tropicals and Bro Iz....I am somewhere else altogether.
Me too!
Hi - I live in the subtropics in Mulege which is in Baja Ca. Sur in Mexico. I would love to get some sprouted coconuts sent to me next time I'm in the States (probably late Nov.). I'm also looking for yacon. We have a few coconut trees here but it's a bit chilly for them in the winter, I think. I am amending the soil on my west facing arroyo and I think coconuts would do well there. Hard to find trees here. (Hard to find a lot of things here; I bring a lot of seeds down and pass them around.)
Katiebear (what a cute name!) Welcome to the Tropical Gardening Forum! I would love to hear more about Mulege, DH and I are planning to retire in Mexico or Costa Rica, and we are always looking for input. I will be in the States in November. D-Mail me your address and I will send you a coconut or two!