Do royal palms and coconut palms grow in Tampa or is it too fat north? (Clearwater: condos, home)

[Sydneycarton]

Thanks for any replies.

[LKJ1988]

I had a coconut for many years in Dansshores by TIA from 1988 to 2010. But if temps get below 27f for more than 4 hours they are done. Back when we had real winters in the 80's and back to back super freezes they were all killed off in 1981 with a low 21, 1982 with lows in the low 20's, 1983 with a low of 19f in Tampa and on and on, Since 1990 the planet has seen a warm up and a huge ramp up in heating since 2011 for FL. My snow ball effect as i call it will see a huge ramp up in world wide heating over the next 30 years.
I kept a eletro blanket on the tree when it was small for the first years when it did get below 32f. It is very so rare to even get temps below 32f in Tampa now a days. Not one temp was into the 30's this winter in Tampa.

So you can go years and be fine, but 4 hours of 27f or below and it is over rover. Same for Royal palms.

Sarasota south is much better. But even the super freezes of the 80's killed them in south FL.


The coconut line was south St Pete in 1981 and now they are growing in Tarpon springs and within another 30 years they will be another 40 miles north as the ramp up in heating gets faster and faster.

We are in big trouble for people living into the next 70 years as what is to come won't be very nice.

[Sydneycarton]

I agree about climate change, but I infer that they grow in Tampa. Is that correct? I had thought that they wouldn’t grow anywhere north of Palm Beach or Sarasota.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Sydneycarton

I agree about climate change, but I infer that they grow in Tampa. Is that correct? I had thought that they wouldn’t grow anywhere north of Palm Beach or Sarasota.

They grow fine until it gets to 27f for more than 4 hours. So maybe plant now, and they may live for the next 7 years or one nite next winter could kill them. I say forget it unless you are on the water in St Pete . There have been full grown coconut palms growing next to some condos at Clearwater pass since the 70's and they are still there.

[Sydneycarton]

Thanks!

[Ft Laud Guy]

I have recently seen large, mature royal palms among landscapes in Pinellas County. Who knows how long ago they were planted.

[floridaguy954]

Yes they do, and I encourage anyone in pinellas or near the bay in hillsborough to plant them!

Royal palms are almost 100% safe and quite at home in most areas of pinellas and south tampa. If you look at google street view youll see the vast majority in south tampa survived the severe 2010 cold snap and almost all in pinellas, albeit just with some damage they soon recovered from. These days, royal palms are very common all over pinellas and are becoming almost ubiquitous in areas near the water

As for coconut palms, historically they'll grow however severe cold snaps every couple decades (ex. 1989, 2010) will damage them and can kill them particularly tampa ones. However with climate change, the likelihood of those severe 20 year cold snaps decreases more and more, and the winters are becoming milder. The last few winters it has rarely even been dropping below 40F, maybe 1-2 times per winter with it usually not dropping below 38-39ish, and as others stated you need like 27F and below to kill them outright or prolonged periods below 32F

They grow great in St. Pete near the water and even inland pinellas they grow fine. South tampa cocos are a little more susceptible to damage and wont be as lush as the ones in pinellas but still manage. I'm also starting to see them pop up around the city away from the water (particularly west tampa, maybe due to all the cuban and puerto rican people used to them on the islands) although they are definitely more marginal in these areas. I personally have 2 that I planted a couple years ago as tiny sprouts a few inches high all the way up in new tampa near the pasco county line and they are doing great, one is lagging but the other has taken off and is about 4 ft high and very healthy and green.

Here's some great examples of St. Pete coconut palms near the water on the intracoastal
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7444...7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7448...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.6907...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7452...7i16384!8i8192

St. Pete on the bay side
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8048...7i16384!8i8192

Downtown St. Pete
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7711...7i16384!8i8192

Clearwater intracoastal
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9759...7i16384!8i8192

Clearwater Beach
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9693...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9703...7i16384!8i8192

Inland Pinellas
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8180...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8769...7i16384!8i8192

South Tampa
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9387...7i16384!8i8192

Ybor City
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9581...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9588...7i16384!8i8192

Apollo Beach (eastern shore of tampa bay)
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7829...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7841...7i16384!8i8192

Ruskin (also eastern shore)
https://www.google.com/maps/@27.7203...7i16384!8i8192

Thonotosassa (inland hillsborough pushing it hard, as you can see its partner died and it is not the most lush individual)
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0802...7i16384!8i8192

[engineman]

I would expect them to be found mostly below Sarasota. They were common down when we lived in Boca Raton, but we prefer living in Pinellas county.

[LKJ1988]

They keep growing more and more north as the planet heats up more and more.

[Corrie22]

...and citrus groves keep moving further south....to escape the freezes that are becoming more frequent

Tampa temperatures have increase 1/2 degree in 180 years > http://berkeleyearth.lbl.gov/auto/St...5-TAVG-Raw.png

..and temperatures have actually decreased at Macdill > http://berkeleyearth.lbl.gov/auto/St...5-TAVG-Raw.png