Malayan Dwarf Coconut Grow Guide

Known for their precocious flowering and slower growth habit, the Malayan Dwarf Coconut is one of South Florida’s most popular coconut palms. In fact, this is the exact variety that I grow!

That said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Malayan Dwarf Coconuts:

Table of Contents

• Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production
• Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Season (And When To Pick)
• Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Disease Resistance
• Conclusion

Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production

The Malayan Dwarf Coconut is considered a semi-dwarf palm tree that will eventually grow to between 30 – 60 feet tall. Additionally, the tree’s annual growth rate can range anywhere between 1 – 3 feet.

The palm tree itself features a narrow, straight trunk with minimal base swelling and possesses shorter, more abundant feathery fronds compared to the Jamaica Tall. The palm’s petioles can either be green, golden, or yellow, depending on the sub-cultivar. Additionally, the canopy spread ranges between 15 – 25 feet.

But Matthew, what gives? ‘Malayan Dwarf’ literally has ‘dwarf’ in the name, and you’re saying it can get that tall?

Unfortunately, yes.

That is because in the context of coconut palms, the ‘dwarf’ label indicates the tree’s size at which the cultivar starts producing coconuts, not its final growth size.

Though it should be noted that the Malayan Dwarf is indeed smaller in stature by all measures relative to much faster-growing and taller coconut cultivars such as the Panama Tall and Jamaican Tall.

From a fruit production perspective, I have observed that Dwarf Malayan begins producing coconuts once the palm tree is around 3 – 4 years old or has approximately 2 – 3 feet of grey wood. This is much faster compared to a cultivar like the Maypan, which won’t start producing coconuts until they are approximately 5 – 8 feet tall.

Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Season (And When To Pick)

Unlike traditional fruit trees, coconuts do not have a single defined season.

Instead, coconut palms produce all-year round. Although there are clear seasonal variations in overall fruit yield that fluctuate with climatic conditions.

In Florida, you can expect a Malayan Dwarf’s overall yield to follow a pattern similar to this:

However, when exactly we harvest our coconuts—and subsequently what to look for—will ultimately depend on our end goal. For homeowners, this typically translates to either wanting coconut water or coconut copra (meat).

If you want the best coconut water, here are some of my best harvesting tips:

• You need to harvest the coconuts before they fall naturally. This should be done 6 – 7 months after flowering.
  • At this stage, the water should be sweet and refreshing.
  • Harvesting coconuts earlier than 6 months will result in the water being bland and tasteless.
    
• From a color perspective, Malayan Dwarf Coconuts should be green and smooth.
  • While the coconuts can be harvested when they are more yellow and on the wrinklier side, the water inside will be saltier/tangier, which can be overwhelming for some.
  • Note: Immature Malayan Dwarf fruits can also be green, red, or yellow, depending on the sub-cultivar.
    
• Slap the coconut (seriously!).
  • If you feel some vibrations and hear water sloshing around, that indicates that the inner shell hasn’t formed yet, and you’ll be able to open up the fruit without a machete.
  • Note: Any coconut in the ‘Drinking Coconut’ stage can be opened without the need for a machete.
    
• The fruit feels heavy for its size.

Although any homegrown coconut water will taste better than what you can get from a store, I do think that Panama Tall produces much sweeter and more refreshing coconut water compared to Malayan Dwarf.

That said, if you can time your harvesting perfectly, Malayan Dwarf Coconuts can have some very sweet water!

On the other hand, if you are growing coconuts for their meat, then here are some of my best harvesting tips:

• The coconut should be harvested 11 – 12 months after flowering.
  • At this stage, there will still be some salty/tangy water present. However, there will be substantially more copra formation (the white part we eat) compared to the jelly-like and tender copra found in the ‘Drinking Coconuts’ stage.
    
• From a color perspective, Malayan Dwarf Coconuts should be brown and wrinkly.
  
• Knock on the coconut with your fist (seriously!).
  • There should be a woody and hollow sound, indicating that the inner shell has hardened. You should also hear little to no water sloshing around in the fruit (due to the development of a thicker copra).
  • At this stage, you’ll 100% need a machete to de-husk the coconut.
  • Fun fact: If you allow the coconut to germinate, upon opening the nut, you’ll be greeted with a sprouted coconut that has a mildly sweet and earthy flavor with a fibrous, sponge-like texture (it’s VERY good!).

Regardless of when we decide to harvest, my go-to method for harvesting coconuts is by using a pole saw. However, please exercise great caution, as harvesting coconuts can be very dangerous.

In fact, coconuts kill more people than sharks every year.

Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palm Disease Resistance

The main disease impacting coconut palms across Florida is Lethal Yellowing (LY). In a nutshell, LY is a disease that causes yellowing of leaves, premature fruit drop, and eventual death of the tree.

Once a coconut palm is infected with the disease, it cannot be cured.

Unfortunately, Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palms are known to have low resistance to Lethal Yellowing.

Although interestingly enough, I have observed examples of Malayan Dwarfs that have been confirmed to be infected with LY and their palm fronds never turned yellow but rather became wilted and brown instead.

While Malayan Dwarf does have slightly better resistance to LY relative to Jamaican Tall, it’s not by any meaningful measure. Therefore, if you want a lot of coconut trees and want to mitigate the risk of the trees developing LY, I would highly recommend looking into more resistant varieties such as the Fiji Dwarf.

Conclusion

If you found this grow guide helpful, please consider sharing. It helps support the website 🙂

If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned in this grow guide, please comment them below! This way, others can also benefit from the answer to the same question. For any other questions or growing tips that you think may be helpful, feel free to use the contact form and drop me a line.

Thank you for reading! 🙂

_