Lethal yellowing in coconuts (semi-OT)

[TerdalFarm]

As near as I can tell, everyone here on PN has killed at least one coconut palm. Most of us plan to try again.
It is tempting to think, "if only I lived in the tropics--then it would be easy."

This link is to a blog post by an expat gringa living in Belize. She blogs about, well, bars, booze and beer.

This entry in more interesting to us as it covers her recent discovery that it takes a lot of time and money to maintain the coconut palms that grace the beach resorts she loves. It is useful to us mostly for the photos, but also the reminder that everyone growing palms has to care for them.

http://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2012/02/co ... COOP%21%29

If you are really bored and want to read about the disease she mentions, here is a readable summary:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp146

[TimMAz6]

Too bad about the coconuts but I'd love to be able to grow any palm in that climate. If coconuts don't work there are 1,000 other palm species I could try. How about needle palms down there! Wouldn't that be a sight?

[lucky1]

Yeah, LY hits a lot of palms in Florida too, and gov't is recommending not planting LY-susceptible palms.
Florida's sandy soils quickly leach potassium apparently and without regularly applied K, they go downhill eventually.
So we try to grow Cocos in Canada.
We must be masochists.

Interesting life she's had/having, Erik...quite the switch from Lehman.
At least she's not in jail from her days at LB (but somebody ought to be!)

I'm convinced the only place for Cocos is Hawaii...they grow on top of one another in ditches on Kaui (the garden isle).

A needle in Belize, Tim

Barb