Sprouting Coconuts

[Guest guest]

Tommie writes:

“Since I know you can't send a coconut to each of us who read your

post with sadness and longing, I'll just ask you to share how to

sprout a mature coconut. If that's the next best thing, then let me

know. Will it work with the already cracked ones that are sold in the

stores now?”

 

Sprouting a coconut is the same as sprouting any other seed: First you soak

it (immerse it completely in water) for a period of time, than you keep it

wet and well-drained again for a period of time, and then harvest the

" sprout " when the " tail " is the same length as the seed. The only difference

with coconuts is that the " period of time " is orders of magnitude longer. I

don't know if the store coconuts are living. If they are broken or cracked

(as with any seed) I don't think that they will sprout. I am using mature

coconuts that still have the full husk on them. I have never tried sprouting

a husked coconut (like the sell in the stores,) but I think that it would

work. I often sprout other " hulled " seeds. As long as they are truly raw and

whole, they will still sprout.

 

I soak the whole coconut for 1 week in fresh unchlorinated water. The

coconuts float so I put a weight to keep them more than 50% submerged. I

then put the coconut on a bed of damp soil about three inches deep and keep

the soil damp. (Most locals just put them on damp soil in their yard to

sprout them without soaking, and they still get some to sprout, but you have

to keep them damp. The most important thing is to keep the soil damp. ) It

takes at least thirty days to see any evidence that sprouting has begun. Two

or three roots will start to come out of the coconut where it is contacting

the soil and two leaves will begin to emerge from the stem area of the

coconut. It will take about two months for the sprout to be ready to

harvest, and as with other seeds you simply wait for the " tail " i.e. leaves

to be the same length as the whole seed, or in this case coconut. The

temperature averages about 78 and never goes below 72 at the very coldest.

So, a lower ambient temperature may slow sprouting time. In a house or

basement that is averaging 60-65 degrees you may need to add a month or two

to your sprouting schedule.

 

Down here, I soak them outside in the back yard or car port in a large wash

tub and then just put them on soil in the yard. If you are doing it in a

cold climate I suggest doing it in an indoor space that is as warm as

possible.

 

(Coconut plants also love sea minerals. Coco palms are one of the few plants

that can be water with straight sea water and thrive.) I add just a little

ocean water as they are in the soil because coconuts like that. You can add

a dash of natural sea salt [a teaspoon per gallon of water.]

 

I have never tried sprouting those whole coconuts you buy in the store (that

have been stripped of their husk until you can see the three eyes), but it

would be worth the try. If they are alive, living seeds, they should sprout.

 

When you harvest, take a machete or large kitchen cleaver and chopped it

right in half. The empty area where the water would be in a normal coconut

is filled with a sweet delicious coconut sponge cake that you can eat

straight out of the coconut. You will also find a ring of the purest coconut

oil that you have ever tasted in your life.

 

It takes forever to sprout, but it is the most delicious raw whole food that

I have ever eaten. We always want to try make recipes and deserts from the

sprouted coconut but we can never resist just eating it raw and whole out of

the nut. It is hard to imagine doing anything to it to make better.

 

Let me know how it works.

 

All the best,

Tom

 

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Tom Spontelli

Instructor

Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute

 

Aguada PR 00602 USA

 

www.AnnWigmore.org

 

Two week Living Foods Lifestyle Certification Program on tropical beach at

one of the world's most respected Living Foods Institutes.

 

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