Grow coconut palm in frost-free full sun and soil that drains. Coconut palm is Cocos nucifera.
Give it frost-free full sun and soil that drains
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Full sun, all day | Do not site it in shade or a frost pocket |
| Soil | Sandy or loamy ground that drains; salt spray is fine on a coast | Do not leave the bole in standing water |
| Water | About one inch a week the first year from rain or a hose | Do not let a new planting dry out |
| Feed | A palm fertilizer such as 8-2-12-4 magnesium, a few times a year | Do not feed a high-nitrogen lawn product under the palm |
| Cold | A frost-free yard, or a juvenile you can move before a freeze | Do not count on it coming back from a hard freeze |
coconut palm is a tropical feather palm. A freeze at 32°F can kill it, and nights in the 40s can scorch the fronds. Give it a full day of sun and soil that stays moist after you water, then drains. On the coast it takes salt spray, wind, and a short flood, but the bole still rots in a bog. [1] Water through the first year, about one inch a week. After that, keep the ground from going bone-dry in a drought, and keep water from standing around the trunk. Feed a palm fertilizer a few times a year — 8-2-12-4 with magnesium is the usual landscape mix, with the nitrogen, potassium, and magnesium in a slow- release form. [2] [3] Salt spray on a coast is fine. A lawn product built for turf is not, because it is too high in nitrogen and too low in potassium for this palm. [4] To set a nut or a seedling, see Planting Coconut. Ripe-check and a pole cut live on Harvesting Coconut. Yellow-frond cuts live on Pruning Coconut.
- Site it in full sun, out of a frost pocket. Shade makes a weak trunk and little fruit.
- Water about one inch a week the first year from rain or a hose. After that, water in a drought, and do not leave the bole in a bog.
- Feed a palm fertilizer a few times a year. Do not use a high-nitrogen lawn product under the crown.
Can I grow coconuts at home?
Yes, if winters stay frost-free and the planting gets full sun. A freeze can kill the palm. In a colder yard, start the nut in a pot you can move.
How much sun does a coconut palm need?
Give it full sun all day. Shade makes a weak trunk and little fruit.
Not a queen palm — and not cocoplum or coconut coir
Queen palm is Syagrus romanzoffiana, an old nursery tag sometimes still printed as Cocos plumosa. It is a different feather palm and does not bear coconuts. Cocoplum is Chrysobalanus icaco, a coastal hedge shrub — see How to Grow Cocoplum. Date palm is Phoenix — see How to Grow Date Palm.
Coconut coir is fiber from the husk, sold as a potting ingredient, not a plant. Cocoa is Theobroma, the chocolate tree. Coco de mer is Lodoicea, a huge double nut from another genus. A shop “indoor coconut” is often a fan palm, not coconut palm. coconut palm is Cocos nucifera, the true coconut palm.
Is a queen palm a coconut palm?
No. Queen palm is Syagrus. Coconut palm is Cocos nucifera and bears coconuts. An old tag that says Cocos plumosa is still a queen palm.
Site coconut palm in frost-free full sun on ground that drains, water it through the first year, and feed a palm fertilizer instead of a lawn product.
FAQ
How long until a coconut palm bears fruit?
Flowering often starts at about four to six years. Full crops take much longer, often around twenty years on a landscape palm. A pot plant usually never fruits.
Will a coconut palm come back after a freeze?
A hard freeze can kill the palm. It does not sprout from a cut trunk. If frost is regular, skip the planting, or keep a juvenile in a pot you can move.
Is Malayan Dwarf a different plant?
No. Tall and dwarf types are still Cocos nucifera. A dwarf stays shorter and is easier to harvest. Both want frost-free full sun and soil that drains.
What about lethal yellowing?
Premature nut drop and a blackening stalk can be lethal yellowing. Remove a palm that has lost its spear leaf. Do not spray as a home routine; ask your local extension office.
What can I plant with a coconut palm?
Give the crown room first. Low coastal shrubs can sit outside the drip line. Do not pack a second tall palm into the same hole.
Is coco de mer a coconut?
No. Coco de mer is Lodoicea, a different palm with a huge double nut. Coconut palm is Cocos nucifera.
Should I plant one next to a canal in South Florida?
No. Keep coconut palm off canal banks and natural shorelines there, and keep fallen nuts out of flowing water.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions -
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/trees-and-shrubs/palms-and-cycads/coconut-palm/ - [2] UF/IFAS Extension Charlotte County -
https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/charlotteco/2018/01/22/can-grow-coconut-palm-charlotte-county/ - [3] UF/IFAS Extension -
https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP261 - [4] UF/IFAS Extension -
https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP009
This note is part of Cocos Guides.
More first-season notes by plant are gathered in How to Grow Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors