
Full Answer
See more

What is the hardiness zone for coconut palms in California?
According to the website Digitalseed.com, California's USDA Plant Hardiness Zones range from 5a to 11. The only regions of California that will support the coconut palm are along the southwestern coast, where temperatures remain balmy.
What zone is coconut palm grown in?
The coconut palm can only be planted in United States Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 10b and 11, which are tropical and subtropical regions of the United States where the temperature does not regularly dip below 35 degrees. According to the USDA Plants Database website, coconut palms need 365 days per year of frost-free climate, and will suffer if temperatures hit below 18 degree.
How many days of frost do coconut palms need?
According to the USDA Plants Database website, coconut palms need 365 days per year of frost-free climate, and will suffer if temperatures hit below 18 degree.
How hot does a coconut palm need to be to grow?
For a mature coconut palm to survive, the average temperature should hover around 72 degrees year-round. However, during the first six-month germination period, which may exist indoors in a nursery or greenhouse, the average temperature must range between 90 and 100 degrees.
What is the hardiness zone for coconuts?
The official USDA hardiness zone of the Coconut is 10a (meaning it can handle temps of 30-ish Fahrenheit VERY briefly, and can also be seen in very small microclimates in 9b parts of Texas and Florida) but that is only with hot humid summers.
What zone do coconut palms grow in?
Going on a quick tangent, the zone at which coconut palms will reliably grow in arid places, areas with maritime summers, or both, is zone 11b. To prove this point, a patch of them was planted some years ago in a drip-irrigated experimental garden in Israel’s Kibbutz Ketura (very dry, hot, and roughly zone 10b) and they all were gone after about a decade of too many desiccating winds and nighttime chills, they would have indeed had a better chance surviving a frost in south Texas. That just goes to show that a simple zone designation on the tag of the plant you have can be misleading to say the least.
How long do coconut palms live?
If summer temperatures do not reliably reach 80F or higher, then a Coconut Palm will only live for a few years before it is irreversibly weakened by not having the proper level of sugars built up in its roots, which become malformed and underdeveloped by the lack of ground heat.
Where is coconut palm located?
Update: There is a quite healthy coconut palm in a outdoor courtyard in La Quinta, California (Coachella Valley). It is tall enough to be visible from the street. The owners brought the coconut back from Hawaii years ago. Atlas Obscura Trips.
When was the palm tree planted in Newport Beach?
That being said, there is a tiny microclimate area in Newport Beach (zone 10b) where conditions are just barely sufficient, and the palm, which was planted in 1984, exists in a dwarfed form.
How to keep coconut palms warm in the winter?
During the cooler months I avoid watering much and since sun will further dry out the fronds, I make sure only the pot (black or dark color) gets direct sunlight to help keep the roots warm. In the winter I water early in the day preferably if its going to be a sunny warm day (especially when the Santa Ana Winds kick up). Coconut palms can survive Southern California winters as long as their roots aren't wet and cold. I've used a combination of 1/4 sand and 3/4 "super soil" from homedepot and its turned out to be the most successful combination of soils. The winter air temperature will stun the plant but not enough to kill it. It's usually the combination of the cool air and wet roots that's the kiss of death for any so.cal coconut.
What do coconut palms look like?
Unlike what you see in the tropics- those desert coconut palms held boots from ground to the top of a 20' palm. They looked like curved date palm trunks. Or a Washy. The fronds were also a bit thinner.
Why did the Coco die in Newport Beach?
The Newport Beach coco died because it was not watered. When it was alive,it was on a strict water and never fertilized diet. No telling how much better it would have looked well grown. I can never figure why palm experts never mention it was just part of a commercial stripmall type landscaping for an insurance office! It wasn't lavished with TLC.
Can coconuts grow in Hawaii?
Bueno suerte, Californians! Coconuts will only grow in Hawaii, and parts of Florida successfully ( Cape Canaveral on down on the east coast, and St. Pete BEACH on the west. You all don't get too cold; you just don't get warm enough! Cocos hates temps below 60. There are, I am sure, a VERY few specimens in California, but if you try it, I would highly reccomend heating cables for the roots.
Can coconut palms grow outside?
Although true coconut palms are difficult, if not impossible, to grow outside in the ground in California, there is one palm that resembles the coconut that can be grown. It is the Quito coconut palm (Parajubaea cocoides). It is not related, (at least closely), to the coconut palm, but it looks like a coconut. It has glossy fronds that are almost the same as coconut fronds, but the trunk of the palm is covered in hairy fiber. There are some very nice ones up here in the Bay Area, such as in San Francisco and at the UC Berkeley Garden. I think the Lake Merritt Palmatum also has some nice ones. Some Quito coconuts have supposedley survived to the low 20's during severe winters. Oh, its called the Quito coconut because it is from the Quito region of Ecuador and it grows walnut-sized coconuts. The Quito coconut might be a candidate palm for those of you seeking to recreate the tropics.