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When I lived in Florida we had coconut palms all over the place and we would really get coconuts that would grow in clusters and eventually fall to the ground.
Once, 36 friends and I pooled some money together and purchased a coconut plantation in Costa Rica in the mid 80’s complete with a manager etc. We would fly down there at least once every six months, stay in our beautiful Casa, look at our coconuts and have a great time and fly home after a week’s tax exempt vacation. We owned it for about 5 or 6 years before we sold it and went on to other things. During that time I learned how to grow coconuts even though this was a turnkey operation and I never planted one.
So I decided I would plant some in Florida and though the coconut is deemed a nut, botanically it is classified as a drupe and truly is the largest of all fruit seeds and to me that seemed simple enough. I had seen plenty of them lying in rows in the sand in Costa Rica with their little palm coming up eventually growing to 60 to 100 feet high over a period of 7 years to fruitation.
I did two experiments. We had lots of coconuts lying around our yard and I used some of them and I purchased a couple of coconuts with its husk intact. My research and prior knowledge made me aware that I had to soak these in water just like it did with other legumes or seeds that sprout and I did only for 3 days!
The two I purchased I planted in very big containers and the ones from our yard I planted in about 2 or 3 inches into the sandy ground. The ones in the big containers had gravel in the bottom for good drainage and then about 2 or 3 inches of sandy soil from our yard. All of them I planted pointed side up. In both plantings I added more sandy soil around the coconut until I had all of them cover up about half way up the coconut.
For 6 or 7 months I diligently poured water on all these coconuts, a total of these 4 coconuts, until they finally sprouted. Eventually they started to sprout and they sprouted through the eyes which are the softest spot on the coconuts inner shell and eventually made their way through the fibrous outer shell.
In about a year the one’s in the big containers were starting to get white roots around the bottom of the coconuts and since the containers were large enough I just added more sandy soil to them.
The ones I had planted into the ground took root and are there to this day unless someone has cut them down or out.
Eventually these were about 3 or 4 feet plants by the time I sold the property we lived in so the ones in the ground just stayed there and the ones in the containers were given to friends. I never did know what became of them since we moved to another state. At least I proved to myself that it could be done.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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