How to grow Coconut Palm

Coconut palms require a minimum of 2.5 cm of water weekly delivered either through rainfall or irrigation. They will thrive in areas with a mean annual temperature of 20-28 deg C, high humidity (above 70%) and a mean annual rainfall of 1000-1500 mm.¹

They also require a rich, freely draining soil and thick mulch to keep the soil moist. Although they like frequent, heavy watering they will not tolerate waterlogging.

Although coconut palms should be planted in full sun, provide some shade to young and newly planted palms until they are established. Upon planting, thoroughly drench the palm and water frequently thereafter.

Ensure that temperatures are mild (minimum night temperatures should be around 20°C / 68°F) and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Coconut Palm is a tender plant.

It all depends whether you want a green coconut or a dry one. When the coconut is ready as a “green” fruit it turns from green to a yellow green and some even change to a yellow or orange color. At this point the inside flesh is very tender, juicy and sweet and the water is deliciously sweet.

The coconut then dries and turns a light brown in the outside and possibly can fall off the tree and is still good to eat or make coconut milk and sweets out of it.

These estimates for how long Coconut Palm takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.

Niyog is the Tagalog term for coconut and it sounds layug means towering above all.

The coconut plant is a distant relative to the banana.

Coconut palm tree

¹ AgroForestryTree Database