Is there someone on the island or mainland that sells or can transplant large coconut palms?

I want at least 25 medium to large size dawrf (leathal yellow resistant) palms planted on my property way down south. Medium size defined as 5-8 feet of trunk and large defined as 8 foot tall or more trunk measurement.

Thanks

Coconut trees that large generally do not survive the transplant. The bigger the tree the longer it will take to recover from being transplanted if it recovers at all. A small tree (say, 4 feet tall with no trunk) can double or triple its size in less than 2 years.

Save yourself a huge headache and plant smaller trees.

I'm sending you a PM.

Several folks have said the same thing about "rapid growth" of the palms but my reading and my observations don't agree.

I planted several small palms about a year ago and some died others had little growth. I have been watching several properties for sale on the south end which planted young palms and have seen little growth from them as well.

I guess if you live there and tend to the palms some they thrive but if you plant and leave it seems that little happens.

I have a back yard full of transpalnted palms here. They are not coconut though as coconuts will not survive here. I have Sabal, Pindo, Afgan and more here which are all "cold hardey" palms that I transplanted. My Sabals were HUGE when I had them brought from Houston TX but again I was here to tend to them which may make the main differnece in transplant success.

I'm sure I'll need someone to plant them and tend them until they are established.

First of all you will not find many persons with resistant trees and certainly not with large ones as they are very slow growing.

You can transplant large trees but they do require a great deal of care after the transplant and will in most cases not do anything for at least a year. They must be properly removed and also properly planted and then fertalized and watered regularly.

If you plant smaller trees that have been well looked after and are not removed from the ground so that the roots are broken then they should and will grow very fast as long as they are looked after. In general what you want is a tree that is already starting to show the divided palm leaves not just the young whole leaves. At that stage you will have a trunck in two years and about 20 feet of hight total.

It is also important to make sure you give the tree some good dirt to grow in and that the tree is not oplanted in water (above the high tide line) or you will get root rote. Some folks really like the seaweed and some black dirt.

There is also special fertilizer that can be purchased here that will need to be given to them on a regular basis.

Most folks that have planted resistant trees are not happy with them because they are so slow to grow.

According to reports you'll also need a 24-hour watch in the trees.

I use Mycor Palm Saver on my palms.

Is that the "special fertilizer" your referring to?

We got some dwarf palms in March. Their fronds were about a foot long when we got them.

We moved them with roots twice before we planted them. We let them sit and establish for about three months after the second move. We were advised that they like a mixture of sand and dirt, which we have on our property.

We've provided no supplements but water them once a week if it isn't raining. The fronds are between 4 and 5 feet now.

We also have one coconut tree that grew from a coconut we found on our land. It sat for six months in the shade and wasn't happy, then burnt in the sun when we transplanted it. Despite the tricky start it now has fronds nearly 5 feet long. It had two leaves on it when we picked it up in December.

There is no doubt that if you want any of your plantings to thrive, there is a better chance of that if they are tended to. Also, I'm not sure if Peter is referring to this, but there are some who sell 'relocated' palms here, which are 'acquired' from empty lots.

Yes, I have holes on my property which clearly are dig outs from larger palms that have been "relocated" from my land to someone else's property.

With the south AC watch program and south police substation I hope this type of relocation of palms will be reduced. At least they will have to boat the trees away or drive right past the police substation with them and hopefully have to account for them there.

With me not being there this is a major concern. I want to plant soon though so that there's time for these trees to mature.

I would wait until most of your construction is done before planting trees. I have noticed that most construction workers have little regard for plant life.

True but I want to line the property now and my new palapa as it will be some time before I build our home.

No new plants in the future construction areas.

We got a bit off track.

The question was, who on the island can I get to plant and tend a bunch of trees for me until they are established?

I think your best bet is to talk to one of the caretakers already in the area (face to face).

Face to face meeting.......that would be NICE!
Especially since the weekend forecast is a high of 52 and rain:-{

But for me it's work, work and more work right now.

Hey there, have you tried Riverwalk nursery? Whilst i don`t think they have large palms in stock, they can probably arrange to have them brought in from the main land .They are really friendly and helpful, I`m sure they can help you out. they are located behind Island Academy . Good Luck!!!

Yes, they had no large trees and the lady working there was not the owner. The owner was to call me while I was on the island but either didn't or I didn't get the message.

I met the owner on a previous visit. She gave me some Christmas palm seeds which were lying all around her place to plant. I planted a bunch but only a couple sprouted.

I have planted many small trees as well but I'm gone so long when I return most are dead or struggling.

I do think now my best bet will be to make arrangements for a local to plant and tend the trees until established.

Then I need to start contributing to the south end security effort to help make sure the trees don't get "relocated" in my abscence.