Brazilian Dwarf Coconut Palm

About the Brazilian Dwarf Coconut Palm

Brazil's dwarf coconuts are famous for producing water coconuts: abundant, medium-sized nuts full of sweet, refreshing water, harvested young for drinking straight from the shell. Like other dwarf palms, it starts bearing much earlier than tall coconuts and grows slowly upward, so the bunches stay within easier reach for years. It is a beautiful, tropical centrepiece for coastal gardens, hotels and orchards, and it thrives in the heat of the Yucatán Peninsula and Mexico's Gulf and Pacific lowlands with regular water. Grown on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped via DHL.

How to Care for It

Plant in full sun in deep, sandy or loamy soil with good drainage; coconuts tolerate salty coastal air. Water generously and regularly, especially in the dry season. Feed three or four times a year with a palm fertiliser containing potassium, magnesium and micronutrients. Coconuts are damaged by temperatures below about 5 °C. Remove only fully dead fronds and never cut the growing tip.

Grow fruit most people have never tasted. Our exotic fruit trees, from Monthong durian and Emperor lychee to jaboticaba, achachairú and red finger lime, are raised on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped by DHL across Mexico. Most love heat and humidity; several do beautifully in large pots.

Growing Profile

Botanical name

Cocos nucifera (Brazilian Dwarf)

Family

Arecaceae

Native to

Tropical Indo-Pacific; dwarf selection from Brazil

Mature height

8–12 m

Plant spacing

7 m

Years to first fruit

3–4 years

Light

Full sun

Water

High, keep moist

Cold tolerance

down to 5 °C

Best climates

Humid tropics, Dry tropics

Grows in a pot

Best in the ground

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas