It’s a versatile plant and the benefits are plastered all over social media – coconut cream for healthier cuisine, coconut oil for hair, skin and even to whiten your teeth. Coconut coir for mats, rope, kokedama, and growing mediums.

Coconuts are one of the biggest seeds in the world and virtually impossible to break open without the right tools. At some point during germination a young coconut palm shoot must burst through this (really hard) shell.

Now look at it from a plant-lover’s point of view – this brand-new shoot needs to break through something really, really hard – without the any help from the outside world. Surely the coconut must contain some powerful plant growth boosting properties inside. Imagine if we could somehow harness them?

Well, it turns out that it absolutely can, and research shows that coconut water for plants is really old news. Coconut water is so effective that even labs use it to help their tissue cultured plants grow faster. The more you learn about how coconut water affects plant growth, the more you’ll question why you haven’t heard about this before!

Case studies date back to over 50 years ago, where Dr El Hinnawy from the university of Amsterdam concluded that fresh coconut water provides “maximum growth stimulation without toxicity to the root tissue” and “acts as a potent stimulus to the growth and development of plant tissue.”

A quick Google search will reveal that Dr Hinnawy is not the only one to make such bold claims about using coconut water to grow better plants. Many case studies support his findings, and advancing technology means that researchers can look much deeper into why coconut water is so effective for plant nutrition. Research is uncovering that coconut water works just as effectively as artificial plant growth hormones in propagation – this is thanks to several factors like hormones, amino acids, vitamins, micronutrients and complex carbohydrates that are all beneficial as plant growth boosters.

Hormones are one of the many reasons that it works so effectively. First discovered in 1880 by Charles Darwin, hormones in plants influence growth and development – just like in our own bodies. They help plants to respond to external stimulants like light, warmth, or damage. For example, when you cut back the growth tip of a plant, hormones signal for a new growth tip to develop further down the stem and you’re likely to see encouraging bushier growth – this is thanks to the hormone auxin. Scientists have created something called plant growth regulators, or PGRs, to mimic these responses and encourage the type of growth they want (bigger fruit, taller plants, or bigger leaves). Coconut water naturally contains plant growth hormones in ratios that are proven to speed up the growth in both roots and foliage of young plants and encourage branching of more mature plants.

Another contributing factor is the presence of amino acids in coconut water. In fact, it contains all the amino acids that are essential to plant growth! If you’re familiar with amino acids and their role in plant development, you’ll understand why they’re also known as “the building blocks of life”. Just like hormones, plants produce amino acids themselves too, but this process takes a lot of energy. When amino acids are applied through a foliar spray or soil additive, the plant doesn’t need to work as hard creating them and instead use its energy elsewhere (like growing multiple growth points and developing more vigorous root systems). Amino acids also play a role in protecting plants against disease and insects. Plants that are weak hold extra water between the cell walls, providing easy access to fungal infections and sucking insects. Amino acids promote the growth of stronger cell walls and form a physical barrier against potential invaders.

Coconut water also contains most of the nutrients required in plant growth (including micronutrients that aren’t commonly found in fertilisers). One study proves that using coconut water to grow tomato seedlings increases

leaf mass by double and root mass by nearly triple (Mamaril et al 1994). The same study showed that the plants grown with coconut water absorbed more calcium – which could by why coconut water is so effective for supplementing calcium-loving plants like the watermelon peperomia (also known as Peperomia argyreia).

Although the calcium content in coconut water isn’t as high as houseplant fertiliser, adding it to your fertilising routine will boost the nutrient uptake to give you more vibrant foliage, faster growth and more resilient plants and gardens.

“If we can benefit from faster growing, healthier plants by using eco-friendly products that work just as well their synthetic alternatives, count us in!”

Not only is it proven to be an effective plant growth promoter, but coconut water is also a safe and sustainable alternative to artificially made rooting hormones. Using coconut water to speed up growth of cuttings is so much better for your indoor jungle and our environment. That’s because synthetic plant growth regulators (or PGRs) are chemically made and using them has known adverse effects on us and our planet. On the flip side, the coconut palm does not require herbicides or pesticides to grow, and harvesting it leaves a minimal carbon footprint. Unlike synthetic PGRs, it’s safe around children, pets and our waterways. If we can benefit from faster growing plants by using eco-friendly alternatives that work just as well as their synthetic alternatives, count us in!

Unfortunately, you’re more than likely to run into the same problem as we did. The coconut water products we found were not suitable for our indoor jungles. Most of them are bottled which means they have been pasteurised, making them great as a drink but not so great for our houseplants. The powdered concentrates we found are either spray-dried or full of fillers - also making them unlikely to help your houseplants grow their best. If you want your plants to reap the benefits of fresh green coconut water, Groconut has your back!

Unlike other dried and pasteurised coconut waters, Groconut’s patent-pending formula is harvested in a way that retains up to 99% of its nutritional value, which explains why their users see results. Being a convenient powder means it can be used in many ways:

- As a soil additive: Soil quality is a big deal when it comes to houseplants. There are many types of soil additives available that you can purchase or make yourself to keep your plants happy and healthy. This includes worm castings, biochar, compost, seaweed and blood and bone. Adding coconut water into the soil of your houseplants (either mixed into your potting mix when planting or adding it into your regular watering routine) is a great way to keep your indoor plants growing in top shape by delivering nutrients that you won’t find in other types of soil additives.

- As a foliar spray: Although they’re effective, applying additives to soil can take much longer to get into the plant’s inner tissues, so applying nutrients as a foliar spray takes less time for the nutrients to be absorbed. Using coconut water as a biostimulant is a great way to boost growth of house plants. Groconut’s formula is 100% water soluble, so spraying both sides of your favourite houseplant’s foliage will encourage rapid nutrient absorption. It is also proven to give propagating plants a huge growth boost, so you’re likely to see roots and new growth form a huge variety of houseplants – from ficus, to caladiums, to philodendrons - at a significantly faster rate.

- In propagation: Coconut water contains natural auxins and cytokinins (these are synthetically made in the case of artificial rooting rooting hormones) which are proven to speed up the rate of new root and shoot development.

Use Groconut alone to boost the rate of growth of young plants and cuttings without the risk of fertiliser burn or use it alongside reputable fertilisers like The Plant Runner’s Indoor Plant Food to encourage maximum nutrient absorption in established houseplants.

In summary, if you’re all about alternative products that don’t harm the earth, using Groconut as a growth booster is a sustainable, vegan, organic and most importantly effective alternative to harmful synthetic plant growth hormones and artificial biostimulants. It’s been a gamechanger for all those who have tried it –and we’d love to hear what your plants think of it, too!

El Hinnawy, E., Stegwe, D. (1970). The Growth Responses of Exercised Tomato Roots to Coconut Water. University of Amsterdam.

Mamaril J.C.; Lopez A.M.; Simbahan J.F.; Paner E.T.; [1994]. Effect of coconut water growth hormone extract (CWGH) on growth and development of tomato

(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) under screenhouse conditions. Laguna (Philippines). National Inst. of Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology