Several people have ask this question and I believe most of the time, others say NO you can not. I think they are to old or something.
Hope that helps,
Rob

The success rate is VERY low. I believe there has been a post in the past by someone who had success. i think that's 1 in a thousan though.

The success rate is probably higher than that. But it also depends on how old the coconuts are, and where in the country you are. Im not sure where those coconuts come from, but i know we get very fresh produce from just south of the border in Mexico. For example, mangoes are available year round here and they are usually nice, ripe mangoes. As opposed to an aunt who lives in Iowa and says they rarely have "good" mangoes, since many times they are picked before fully ripened and stored in coolers for weeks. Same thing with avocadoes, californian grown avocadoes have a higher germination rate than those imported.

Cocos nucifera

By Karen Smith:

"Distribution of the coconut palm extends over most of the tropical islands and coasts and on some places outside the tropic zone. In India, the palm is found as far North as Lacknow ( at 26 degrees N), however it does not commonly fruit there. In Africa the northern limits are on the west coast, Cape Verde (15 degrees N); and on the east coast Djibouti (11.50 degrees N), 24 degrees N isolated palms have been discovered on the Red Sea. Mossamedes, or the south end of Africa and Zambezi River (19 degrees S) on the east.

In South America as low as 27 degrees S the palm grows in North America at 25 degrees N in Florida and the Bahamas. The plantations furthest from the equator are probably those in Florida."

They don't grow in Canada and seed not viable as previously mentioned. Maybe you should try a lucky bamboo - they are so much easier:-)

And yes nyssaman - I get tons of attention. I can give it too. lol

Here is a link that might be useful: Data Source

Lucky bamboo.. I'm already growing that..lol

I did it-see photo below. I think it depends on how fresh they are and how they were stored-temperatures too cold kill the embryo. Its hard and mine died shortly after germinating but there is a person who did it successfully-if you search around on palmtalk forums then you'll find him.
Thanks and good luck :D
James

"Like a nipple" lol
Good luck! For some reason they don't generally go past the nipple stage for me :/

Hi rhizophora....lol...I don't know any other way to describe it. Anyway the photo you posted is "exactly" how mine looks. So I'm hoping that I don't end up with the same experience you've had. Everyday now I've been taking it out of the bag for an hour and then putting it back inside. At this point I'm worried about keeping a balance of humidity and drying out to prevent any kind of rot going on. Incidentally I had success 3 years ago with a coconut (in husk) that I brought home from a Cuban vacation. I was amazed to watch how I planted in Feb 2006 to watch it suddenly shoot in March of that same year. I had it for 2 years growing up to 6 ft. tall. Eventually the heat of my kitchen oven drove it into despair and it slowly declined. I had a humidifier next to it but they are very finicky. This time "if" this one grows I plan to keep it in a room without any "direct" heat near it and see how it does. I have had no trouble with my majesty palms being in an unheated room and the moisture content seems to be quite high in the room as well. All we can do is "experiment" and hope for the best. :-)

I should mention that my only dilemma right now is deciding what exactly to do with it at this 'stage'. Should I leave it for a while in the bag to further go from its embryonic stage or should I plant it in sandy perlite soil? Another thing I must confess is that I'm not exactly sure if this stage is the actual roots that go into the ground or the first formation of the stem with shoots. Any opinions on that would be appreciated :-) I've looked everywhere on the net for info on this and having no luck.

It is possible to have one sprout there, only during the summer, or with special heaters and lighting. I did some research a while back and found that coconuts have been known to float all the way to Norway, a country up by Russia. They have sprouted, but because of how cold it gets there, they don't make it. I would think the temps are close to the ones where you live. Give or take some depending on where you live. I also came across some posts where this one guy used to sprout them often. He said it was easy 10-20 years ago. He then wrote that sometime closer to now he noticed they weren't growing as easy. I think someone did something to them, either keeping them in a cold storage too long or spraying them with something. I would buy like 5 or more. It is possible, just a little hard.

I have been trying a few with the ziplock bag method (after soaking). Alot of them starting getting moldy after a few says in the ziplock bag.

any suggestions on how prevent the mold from forming or remove the mold from the coconuts?

Try soaking them in peroxide for while.

I have tried these in a bag and they mold quickly. Not long after i find they have rotted out from the inside. That might be why they stopped selling coconuts from the Dominican Republic. I just bought one from Guayana that is almost full of water, take three.