Growing coconuts indoors as house plant

Written by Admin | 31 July 2010

Coconuts (Cocos nucifera) are a true symbol of the tropics, often seen lining avenues and beach fronts. The perfect growing conditions are therefore in warm weather, with a wet season providing plenty of moisture.

Gardeners who want to grow Coconut plants in colder parts of Australia, or in gardens subject to frost, may feel they miss out on the great tropical look of the Coconut Palm. The perfect and stylish solution for growing Coconuts in the Cool Tropics would be to grow a Coconut Palm inside your home, as house plant.

Coconut Palms use their own nutrient, stored within the coconut, for 18-24 months. This enables you to grow them in a decorative container such as a glass bowl, without soil. Soil can be messy indoors, so the use of stones, peat moss, or pebbles is a great, clean way . You simply place the coconut in the soilless media, just enough to hold it up. You can drill a 2” hole in the top of the coconut, and regularly fill it with water, or a very weak soluble fertiliser to help it look even better.

Another method for growing coconuts indoors is in a large (100lt or bigger) pot, filled with good quality potting mix. You might like to place in on a tray, to keep the water from running out onto your floor or table, and to keep the palm watered. If you fertilise your palm regularly, you will have a beautiful house plant, which will steadily grow for a couple of years, after which growth will gradually slow down.

Some houses come equipped with an indoor garden, perhaps complete with a pool, glass roof and additional lighting. Such an indoor garden would make a fantastic place for growing coconuts inside the home. It would enable you to grow the Coconut palm in the ground, whilst also being inside, protected from cold weather. If your home does not have such a garden, you could think about creating one during your next renovation! It would enable you to create a very decorative, stunning tropical garden inside your house.

All Coconut palms do require good plant light, warmth and relatively high humidity, so you will need to ensure you are providing these conditions for your palm. Keeping indoor plants free from pests is very important, as you do not have the variety of natural predators usually found in the outside garden. Pests such as ants can encourage scale and other pests, and natural predators may not be available inside the home.

An indoor Coconut palm would make a very interesting, unique indoor decoration and I highly recommend giving it a go!