An Indoor Coconut Plant?

Part of my square watermelon creative "heritage" is the nutty idea of growing an indoor coconut palm plant.

On a school break one summer I was at home in the Caribbean when a neighbor made me a friendly challenge to grow a coconut palm from seed...indoor! 

He even gave me the dried coconut from his backyard tree.  Yes, it was hard as a rock and it was even humorous when he made the challenge – to turn this “rock” into a living, growing plant.

Back in Montreal I soaked it in water overnight, bought a large plant container, and positioned it in the container as it would on the ground in its natural environment.  I believe it took quite some time to show slits in the shell close to the “eyes.”  That’s when I knew then that it was still alive!  I was excited.

In the islands seeing young coconut plants is not earth-shattering news.  Dried, mature nuts fall from trees and fortunate ones land in damp, aerated spots that are suitable for growing. 

To plant one indoors in the tropics might raise a few eye brows of friends and neighbors, making them wonder if you still have it all together mentally, just because no one will even think of growing a coconut palm indoors.

But in Montreal, it’s strangely attractive, at least out of the ordinary.  A coconut palm tree in Canada, and… in an apartment!
 
Over a couple of years, the plant grew to the ceiling and started spreading out because it could not go any further.  Perhaps visiting friends thought I was a bit nuts (no pun intended).

Oh, about my apartment… I was on the ninth floor facing south east.  It has a continuous glass window along the entire length of the pad.  That meant I got the morning sun and for long periods of time.  Just about anything grew there!

On first entering my apartment, a visitor would be stunned by the size of the coconut plant then they would complement me on how beautiful the bird of paradise plant and flower was.
Spider plants grew like crazy, making it necessary for me to continuously ask friends (in fact, anyone) if they wanted “spider babies.”

Those were the good days in the beautiful city of Montreal!  In the late eighties I moved to Vancouver, B.C.  It was a different environment, allowing for growing almost all year round outdoors, because of the milder temperatures.  That’s where I’ll pick up in my next post.  It’s about the fascination with bamboo… yes, bamboo in Canada.

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