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I looked thru the photos and only saw two photos of coconut palm trees. One was very small right up against a house (micro-climate) and the other seemed to be very close to a house, probably on the south side. They look pretty badly beat up. I'm curious how they can tell they are still alive. I didn't see green shoots. The royal palms also looked pretty bad.
I've mentioned this before, but it doesn't seem that coconut palms thrive or do well there. Areas in FL with the same average winter lows, like Siesta Key, have many, many more coco palms than that. In TX photos, I keep seeing the same pics. Seems like maybe there are three or four trees in the whole area. Anyway, I'd like to see photos of the same trees this time next year.
I looked thru the photos and only saw two photos of coconut palm trees. One was very small right up against a house (micro-climate) and the other seemed to be very close to a house, probably on the south side. They look pretty badly beat up. I'm curious how they can tell they are still alive. I didn't see green shoots. The royal palms also looked pretty bad.
I've mentioned this before, but it doesn't seem that coconut palms thrive or do well there. Areas in FL with the same average winter lows, like Siesta Key, have many, many more coco palms than that. In TX photos, I keep seeing the same pics. Seems like maybe there are three or four trees in the whole area. Anyway, I'd like to see photos of the same trees this time next year.
I don't find it fair of you to compare Texas to Florida. Texas does not import Coconut Palms or most tropicals for that matter for unknown reasons. Most of the Coconuts you see in Texas are grown locally. Not many nurseries are willing to grow and sell a marginal plant and those that do price them higher then similar looking palms to a laymen's eye such as Queen or Royal Palms. Why pay more for something only a palm enthusiast could differentiate between?
Coconut Palms are (were?) also found in Brownsville and as far inland as McAllen. There are 10 on the island and another 10 in Port Isabel that I know of. All of the houses on the island are quite small and crowded together so I guess you could say it's one big micro climate. They grow fine on the island with irrigation between big freezes and if that's not enough for you, I've personally seen a fruiting one there.
Regarding your question on their survivability, if you look closely, there is some green pushing out of the center of the palm's crown. Royal Palms are fine and will probably look like nothing happened by mid summer with their fast growth. They're the 4th most common palm in the area and are practically bullet proof until the next 1989 type freeze.
Back to the comparison between Texas and Florida, the lower 1/4th of the peninsula can and does grow Coconut Palms commercially (for ornamental purposes). That being said, it is easy to find Coconut Palms in box stores or ship mature ones for more commercial places across the peninsula. That is why they are common in places like St. Petersburg which has about the same climate as South Padre Island. The damage there to Coconuts is quite comparable to the latter as well and a large number of them succumbed to the 2010 freeze. They looked ratty even in Miami. The northernmost place on the Gulf side where Coconut Palms survived 1989 was on Ana Maria Island and on the Atlantic side somewhere between Vero and West Palm Beach.
I don't find it fair of you to compare Texas to Florida. Texas does not import Coconut Palms or most tropicals for that matter for unknown reasons. Most of the Coconuts you see in Texas are grown locally. Not many nurseries are willing to grow and sell a marginal plant and those that do price them higher then similar looking palms to a laymen's eye such as Queen or Royal Palms. Why pay more for something only a palm enthusiast could differentiate between?
Coconut Palms are (were?) also found in Brownsville and as far inland as McAllen. There are 10 on the island and another 10 in Port Isabel that I know of. All of the houses on the island are quite small and crowded together so I guess you could say it's one big micro climate. They grow fine on the island with irrigation between big freezes and if that's not enough for you, I've personally seen a fruiting one there.
Regarding your question on their survivability, if you look closely, there is some green pushing out of the center of the palm's crown. Royal Palms are fine and will probably look like nothing happened by mid summer with their fast growth. They're the 4th most common palm in the area and are practically bullet proof until the next 1989 type freeze.
Back to the comparison between Texas and Florida, the lower 1/4th of the peninsula can and does grow Coconut Palms commercially (for ornamental purposes). That being said, it is easy to find Coconut Palms in box stores or ship mature ones for more commercial places across the peninsula. That is why they are common in places like St. Petersburg which has about the same climate as South Padre Island. The damage there to Coconuts is quite comparable to the latter as well and a large number of them succumbed to the 2010 freeze. They looked ratty even in Miami. The northernmost place on the Gulf side where Coconut Palms survived 1989 was on Ana Maria Island and on the Atlantic side somewhere between Vero and West Palm Beach.
If coconut palms were truly hardy all over that area, then they'd be self seeding and popping up like crazy like weeds. It seems they can live there with some babying and care but I agree with tom77falcons in that they don't seem to truly thrive there.
If coconut palms were truly hardy all over that area, then they'd be self seeding and popping up like crazy like weeds. It seems they can live there with some babying and care but I agree with tom77falcons in that they don't seem to truly thrive there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asagi
I don't find it fair of you to compare Texas to Florida. Texas does not import Coconut Palms or most tropicals for that matter for unknown reasons. Most of the Coconuts you see in Texas are grown locally. Not many nurseries are willing to grow and sell a marginal plant and those that do price them higher then similar looking palms to a laymen's eye such as Queen or Royal Palms. Why pay more for something only a palm enthusiast could differentiate between?
Coconut Palms are (were?) also found in Brownsville and as far inland as McAllen. There are 10 on the island and another 10 in Port Isabel that I know of. All of the houses on the island are quite small and crowded together so I guess you could say it's one big micro climate. They grow fine on the island with irrigation between big freezes and if that's not enough for you, I've personally seen a fruiting one there.
Regarding your question on their survivability, if you look closely, there is some green pushing out of the center of the palm's crown. Royal Palms are fine and will probably look like nothing happened by mid summer with their fast growth. They're the 4th most common palm in the area and are practically bullet proof until the next 1989 type freeze.
Back to the comparison between Texas and Florida, the lower 1/4th of the peninsula can and does grow Coconut Palms commercially (for ornamental purposes). That being said, it is easy to find Coconut Palms in box stores or ship mature ones for more commercial places across the peninsula. That is why they are common in places like St. Petersburg which has about the same climate as South Padre Island. The damage there to Coconuts is quite comparable to the latter as well and a large number of them succumbed to the 2010 freeze. They looked ratty even in Miami. The northernmost place on the Gulf side where Coconut Palms survived 1989 was on Ana Maria Island and on the Atlantic side somewhere between Vero and West Palm Beach.
I do not understand your analogy, Coconut Palms cannot spread like weeds, even in tropical areas. Their seeds are to big for most animals. Coconuts tend to sprout close to the mother plant without human interference or being washed into the ocean. Their natural way of spreading is by sea, that's why they are only found naturally on the coast. Coconut Palms do not "truly" thrive even in Miami as it gets too cold for fruit to be of commercial quality and even the foliage burns in bad winters like 2010. Even Hawaii is a tad to cool for optimum fruiting temperatures.
I would think a coconut palm would thrive in a place like the Southern Caribbean Islands, Indonesia, Amazon, Congo, Tropical Pacific Islands where it NEVER gets cold. You can grow coconuts in other places sure like South Texas, but they do not thrive and you have to protect them every now and then. I dont' consider that truly hardy.
There are species of palm trees that can survive here in Vancouver for 5-10 years but they always get blasted by arctic winds. I don't consider those trees truly hardy as a truly hardy tree should be able to survive for at least 100 years with no damage.
Why is that you never hear about frost damage in the lowland Amazon jungle or have Redwood trees that live for thousands of years? This is what I call truly hardy.
I don't find it fair of you to compare Texas to Florida. Texas does not import Coconut Palms or most tropicals for that matter for unknown reasons. Most of the Coconuts you see in Texas are grown locally. Not many nurseries are willing to grow and sell a marginal plant and those that do price them higher then similar looking palms to a laymen's eye such as Queen or Royal Palms. Why pay more for something only a palm enthusiast could differentiate between?
Coconut Palms are (were?) also found in Brownsville and as far inland as McAllen. There are 10 on the island and another 10 in Port Isabel that I know of. All of the houses on the island are quite small and crowded together so I guess you could say it's one big micro climate. They grow fine on the island with irrigation between big freezes and if that's not enough for you, I've personally seen a fruiting one there.
Regarding your question on their survivability, if you look closely, there is some green pushing out of the center of the palm's crown. Royal Palms are fine and will probably look like nothing happened by mid summer with their fast growth. They're the 4th most common palm in the area and are practically bullet proof until the next 1989 type freeze.
Back to the comparison between Texas and Florida, the lower 1/4th of the peninsula can and does grow Coconut Palms commercially (for ornamental purposes). That being said, it is easy to find Coconut Palms in box stores or ship mature ones for more commercial places across the peninsula. That is why they are common in places like St. Petersburg which has about the same climate as South Padre Island. The damage there to Coconuts is quite comparable to the latter as well and a large number of them succumbed to the 2010 freeze. They looked ratty even in Miami. The northernmost place on the Gulf side where Coconut Palms survived 1989 was on Ana Maria Island and on the Atlantic side somewhere between Vero and West Palm Beach.
Quote:
Originally Posted by deneb78
I would think a coconut palm would thrive in a place like the Southern Caribbean Islands, Indonesia, Amazon, Congo, Tropical Pacific Islands where it NEVER gets cold. You can grow coconuts in other places sure like South Texas, but they do not thrive and you have to protect them every now and then. I dont' consider that truly hardy.
There are species of palm trees that can survive here in Vancouver for 5-10 years but they always get blasted by arctic winds. I don't consider those trees truly hardy as a truly hardy tree should be able to survive for at least 100 years with no damage.
Why is that you never hear about frost damage in the lowland Amazon jungle or have Redwood trees that live for thousands of years? This is what I call truly hardy.
"They grow fine on the island with irrigation between big freezes..."
By the way, the Florida Royal Palm, Roystonea elata now merged with R. regia is native to South Florida yet experienced frost damage in parts of its range in 2010.
That may be true but that doesn't mean that they thrive.
My post does not disagree with your theory, obviously if they only grow for 20 years on the island it doesn't meet your 100 year standard. I had already replied to your first post about the Coconut Palms not thriving (according to your definition) on the island. Then you continued to say they don't thrive there even though I already agreed with you.
I looked thru the photos and only saw two photos of coconut palm trees. One was very small right up against a house (micro-climate) and the other seemed to be very close to a house, probably on the south side. They look pretty badly beat up. I'm curious how they can tell they are still alive. I didn't see green shoots. The royal palms also looked pretty bad.
I've mentioned this before, but it doesn't seem that coconut palms thrive or do well there. Areas in FL with the same average winter lows, like Siesta Key, have many, many more coco palms than that. In TX photos, I keep seeing the same pics. Seems like maybe there are three or four trees in the whole area. Anyway, I'd like to see photos of the same trees this time next year.
I'm certain Coconut Palms don't thrive in Siesta Key or all of Florida for that matter because they wouldn't last 100 years without being damaged or killed.
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