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How are coconut palms grown from ripe coconuts?
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Palm
Wild acai palms (Euterpe oleracea) growing on Combu Island in Belem, state of Para in Brazil.
To grow a coconut palm from a ripe coconut, the process relies on using unhusked nuts for propagation.
The cultivation steps are as follows:
- Nursery Preparation: The unhusked ripe nuts are laid on their sides close together in nursery beds.
- Planting: The nuts are then almost covered with soil.
- Transplanting: After a period of 4 to 10 months, the resulting seedlings are moved to the field.
- Spacing: In the field, the young palms are spaced at distances of 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33 feet) apart.
Once planted, these palm trees typically begin bearing fruit after 5 to 6 years, reaching full production capacity in about 15 years.1