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- Germinating storebought coconuts...
- Germinating storebought coconuts... - Jon - NJ 7b/8a this winter July 8, 2008, 18:20:56
- Re: Germinating storebought coconuts... - Joe K July 9, 2008, 9:50:01
« Back to thread - Re: Germinating storebought coconuts... - Joe K July 9, 2008, 9:50:01
Posted by Jon - NJ 7b/8a this winter on July 8, 2008, 18:20:56
...just for sh**s 'n' giggles. 
It can be done, and I know cos I did it! I did this because Coconuts are among my very fave palms and the temptation and challenge to grow them from an inexpensive, readily-available supermarket (husked) nut was too great to resist after my success with a store-bought date pit (which is now a nice little palm). Yes, Home Depot and the like often sell already-growing Coconuts but to me, there's nothing like the feeling of pride and accomplishment when you DIY, especially when all the odds are supposed to be against it.
Supposedly, husking them (removing the outer husk) inhibits germination due to causing them to dry out and often to split when germination is attempted (as I learned with my "explosively" failed attempt a couple years ago). Also, supermarket nuts are often refrigerated when shipped and kept cold on display, which tends to kill them. However, a post of a successful attempt by someone on the IPS board got me all fired up to try it again. The way he showed it, it seemed downright easy; no more difficult than any other palm seed, storeboughten, husked or not. My first attempt, by comparison, I realize in retrospect was doomed because I went way overboard. The old K.I.S.S. adage definitely applies!
This time I chose nuts from a local farmer's market that has a high merchandise turnover, and aren't kept on cold display; they looked fresh (important for any seed!) with no mold around the "eyes" and plenty of "sloshy" liquid inside. I soaked them for 24 hours in a bucket of water kept outside in the sun so it would get warm; then sowed them in black colored, deep ("Monrovia-style") 6 gallon pots in pure pine bark nuggets, placed in all-day sun on the driveway (which also radiates heat at night) and kept moist. The purpose of the pine nuggets was to make a surrogate "husk", keeping the nuts from drying out and acting as insulation to maintain a more uniform temperature. Pine bark has the added benefit of inhibiting fungal growth.
Sho 'nuff, after 3 weeks, 1 of the two nuts I sowed (the third was very tasty and indeed, it was fresh! LOL!) is germinating; there is a white "button" popping through one of the three "eyes" on the end. Woohoo!
Now I'll have to plant it in a sand/soil medium and see if I can get past the button/radicle stage to a shoot (always a time of great losses)! Based on the aforementioned IPS post, it should be about 3 months, the Big Guy upstairs willing, before I have a nice little strapper... just in time to bring it inside, where it will be kept in a "growth chamber" to simulate tropical conditions.
Hoping the other one germinates soon too... cos it sure would be nice to have a backup, just in case...
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