How Many Palm Trees Per Acre: Oil, Coconut and Date

How many palm trees per acre? The short answer

It depends on the palm. Research puts the best oil palm density at about 58 to 65 trees per acre (143 to 160 per hectare), based on a 12-year spacing trial in West Africa (CIRAD, Ghent University and Presco, Tropentag 2018). Date palms in California are planted at about 49 per acre, on a 30 ft by 30 ft grid (University of California Cooperative Extension). Tall coconut palms are spaced at 120 to 200 per hectare, which is about 49 to 81 per acre (FAO).

Those are field-crop numbers for plantations. Palms grown as nursery stock for landscaping are packed far tighter, at 450 to 4,000 per acre depending on the size you sell. This guide gives the figure for each case, shows why the numbers differ, and ends with a calculator that turns your own spacing into trees to order.

One conversion helps throughout: 1 hectare is 2.47 acres, so multiply trees per hectare by 0.405 to get trees per acre.

Palm trees per acre by crop

The table puts the sourced figures side by side. Per-acre values are our conversion from the per-hectare or spacing figures in each source. They are planting guides from research and extension papers, not rules, and local advice should win where it differs.

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Recommended palms per acre, low to high

Trees per acre (converted from per hectare or spacing figures); selected crops with a range in the source

Oil palm: what a 12-year spacing trial found

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is planted in an equilateral triangle, because its leaves spread evenly around the trunk. A 12-year spacing trial ran in a commercial plantation in West Africa. It tested distances of 7.5 to 9.5 m, with about 2,000 mm of rain a year and a deep soil that was sandy on the surface (Bonneau et al., OCL 2014, via FAO AGRIS).

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Malaysia oil palm bunch yield, 2024

Fresh fruit bunches, tonnes per hectare, by region

At eight years, yield in tonnes of bunches per hectare still rose with density. Early signs of a depressive effect on yield showed at 180 and 205 palms per hectare, but not enough to cancel the gain from having more trees.

Twelve years in, the picture shifted. The higher-density plots still led on cumulative yield per hectare, with 190 palms per hectare best at that age. The gap was closing as the crowns competed for light. Extrapolation and simulation put the best density over the whole crop cycle at 143 to 160 palms per hectare (Tropentag 2018 abstract; also listed by CIRAD). That is 58 to 65 trees per acre.

The lesson is that a denser stand pays early and costs you later. The authors note that the best density falls as the palms age and their leaves spread. A farm that plants denser than the long-run optimum should plan to thin as the crowns meet; the trial itself included a thinning treatment at the end of year eight.

For an equilateral triangle, the spacing and density are linked by simple geometry. The chart shows our calculation for the spacings the trial used.

What the trial site tells you, and what it does not

This is one site, one planting material and one rainfall pattern. A drier climate, a poorer soil or a different variety can move the best density. Treat 143 to 160 per hectare as a starting point and check it against your local palm oil research board or agronomist.

Bunch yield for context

In Malaysia, the national average yield was 16.70 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hectare in 2024, up from 15.79 in 2023 (Malaysian Palm Oil Board overview, 2024). Yields differed by region, as the chart shows. These are national and regional averages, not a target for a single block. If a block carried 143 to 160 palms per hectare, the 2024 national average would work out to roughly 104 to 117 kg of bunches per palm per year (our arithmetic).

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Triangle spacing and palms per acre

Palms per acre for an equilateral triangle layout at the spacings tested in the West African trial

Coconut: spacing, nuts per palm and total yield

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a taller palm with a wider crown. FAO gives recommended spacings for tall varieties from 7 by 7 m to 9.1 by 9.1 m, which means 120 to 200 trees per hectare (FAO, Pasture-Cattle-Coconut Systems). In acres, that is about 49 to 81.

FAO also summarises a spacing trial from Sri Lanka. The more palms per hectare, the fewer nuts each palm gave: 83 nuts per palm at 128 palms per hectare, 68 at 175 and 54 at 239.

More trees do not always mean more nuts per hectare. In the Coconut Research Institute’s analysis of a spacing trial at 128 to 239 palms per hectare, nut yield per hectare peaked at 171 palms per hectare and copra per hectare at 179, and then fell. The authors call 171 to 179 per hectare the best range for that dry-intermediate zone (Fernando and Bandaranayake, 1996). That is about 69 to 72 trees per acre. FAO’s economics table for the Sri Lankan trial it summarises points the other way: 128, 175 and 239 palms per hectare gave 10,589, 11,979 and 12,948 nuts per hectare a year, so sources differ on where yield per hectare levels off.

The same FAO source notes that the layout matters less than the count. Two grids with the same density gave about the same yield per palm, so you can use wide rows and close spacing in the row to leave room for pasture or an intercrop.

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Nuts per palm fall as density rises

Mean nuts per palm per year at three densities in a Sri Lankan spacing trial

Date palm: California and Southern Hemisphere guides

Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) are planted wider than oil palm. The University of California Cooperative Extension cost study for the Coachella Valley assumes a 30 ft by 30 ft grid, about 49 palms per acre, with one male for every 48 females (UCCE sample costs, 2005-2006). That study is old, so use it for spacing rather than for costs.

A review from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals also calls 50 trees per acre (120 per hectare, 9.1 m by 9.1 m) the usual standard in the Coachella Valley (KFUPM conference paper, 2002). FAO’s date palm calendar, written from Namibian experience, recommends 10 m between rows and 8 m between palms, which is 125 per hectare or about 51 per acre (FAO, Date Palm Technical Calendar).

Both sit close to 50 per acre. The same KFUPM review adds that conventional farms plant around 6 m by 6 m, roughly 112 per acre (our conversion), so 50 is a recommended optimum, not the only practice. Date orchards also need room to reach each palm, so check access as well as spacing.

Other palms, and palms grown as nursery stock

Macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) is a Brazilian oil palm. Embrapa estimates oil output for plantings at 200 plants per hectare, about 81 per acre, at around 5 tonnes of one oil type and 1.4 tonnes of another (Embrapa Cerrados). That 2009 paper gives an estimate, not a measured commercial yield, and Embrapa does not set a single spacing in that paper.

Palms grown as landscape stock follow a different logic. The University of Florida (UF/IFAS) says field-grown palms can run from 450 to 4,000 plants per acre, depending on the size you will sell. Palms for the mass market can sit on 3 ft centers and most specimen palms on 4 ft centers. Mexican fan palm needs 8 ft, and coconut and royal palms may need more (Broschat, Meerow and Miller, UF/IFAS).

If you are comparing crops for a new planting, remember that tree count is only one input. Oil palm, coconut and date palm differ in the years before the first harvest, in the water they need, and in the labour for harvest. Ask a local extension office or research board for the figures that fit your climate before you compare them on trees per acre alone.

Keep a written record of the spacing, the date and the planting material you used. It makes later thinning, replanting and yield checks much easier to plan, and it helps an adviser understand what you planted.

Plant spacing systems: triangle, square and rectangle

A triangular layout gives about 15% more trees than a square layout at the same distance, and every tree has the same distance to its six neighbours. Square grids are easier to lay out and to run machinery through. Rectangles, with wide rows and close plants in the row, suit intercropping.

To work out a block by hand, use the area of one acre, 43,560 square feet. For a square grid, divide it by spacing times spacing. For an equilateral triangle, divide it by 0.866 times spacing times spacing. For example, 30 ft gives 48 trees on a square grid and 56 on a triangle.

Work out palm trees per acre and seedlings to order

Enter your own spacing and block size. Choose a square or triangle layout; the calculator uses the matching formula above and subtracts the share of land you need for roads and drains. It adds spare seedlings for gap filling.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

Cost of getting the count wrong

A planting error repeats across every acre. On a 100-acre block, a spacing that is 10% too wide gives about 17% fewer trees than planned. A spacing that is 10% too tight adds about 23% more trees than planned. These are geometry only, using the fact that tree count varies with the inverse square of spacing. They show why a short check of the peg layout is worth the time. They do not show profit, which depends on the price, the yield and the cost of your seedlings.

Seedling prices vary widely by crop, region and supplier, so the calculator asks for your own quote. Add an allowance for gap filling, usually agreed with your nursery or agronomist, and keep a record of how many you planted and where.

What moves the number up or down

Five things decide where in the range you land.

• Rainfall and light. The West African trial site had about 2,000 mm of rain a year, so its result may not carry to drier land. Density also trades off against light as crowns grow. Check your local research board for your climate.
• Soil. The trial soil was deep and sandy on the surface. Your soil depth and water supply may differ, so ask a soil lab or your extension office before you copy a spacing.
• Intercropping. If you plan pasture or a second crop under the palms, choose a rectangle with wide rows.
• Age plan. The 12-year trial shows that the best density falls as palms age. Plant tight only if you will thin.
• Machinery and access. Harvest lifts, tractors and trucks need row width. Map the track layout before you peg the grid.

Lay out a triangle block in five steps

1. Measure the block and subtract roads, drains, buffers and any slope too steep for planting.
2. Choose the spacing from your research board or agronomist, then calculate the trees per acre.
3. Run the first base line along the longest straight edge and peg it at the chosen spacing.
4. Offset each next row by half the spacing and set it back by 0.866 times the spacing. That makes every tree equal in distance from its neighbours.
5. Walk the rows with a tape before the holes are dug, because a small error repeated across rows grows quickly.

Common spacing mistakes

• Using a spacing from a different palm. Oil palm, coconut and date palm need different distances.
• Mixing up square and triangle counts, which differ by about 15% at the same distance.
• Counting the whole title area as plantable land, when roads and drains can take a share of it.
• Ordering exactly the number of seedlings in the plan, with nothing for replacements.
• Planting dense with no thinning plan, so the stand is overcrowded when the crowns meet.

A plantation also differs from a mixed farm in scale and in how much risk sits in one crop. The short video below explains that difference.

▶ A short video on how a plantation differs from a farm. · 4:29

Check the stand after planting

Counting trees after planting catches gaps, mis-spaced rows and failed seedlings while you can still replace them cheaply. A GPS or drone count works, and so does a satellite vegetation map. Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System shows vegetation index maps for a field, which can help you spot weak patches in a young block. Satellite maps show change in plant vigour. They do not name the cause, so walk the area before you act.

Compare a young block with its neighbours in the same month, and check the same areas again two or three weeks later.

▶ How satellite crop health monitoring shows crop stress on a large block. · 4:09

How we checked the numbers

We opened each source named on this page. Per-acre values are our conversions from per-hectare or spacing figures (1 hectare is 2.47 acres). Spacing trials come from specific sites, so they show what happened there. The date palm cost study is from 2005-2006, so we use it for spacing only. Always check local extension or research-board advice before you buy planting material.

Related pages on our site: NDVI ranges, product traceability, fleet management, carbon footprinting, crop loans and insurance, satellite data API, API access, weather API documentation.

FAQ

How many oil palms can you plant on one acre?

About 58 to 65 at a triangle spacing of 8.5 to 9 m (28 to 30 ft). That comes from a West African trial that put the best density over a full cycle at 143 to 160 per hectare. Denser planting gave more bunches early but crowded the crowns later.

How many date palms per acre in California?

The University of California cost study assumes 30 ft by 30 ft, about 49 per acre, including a male for pollination. KFUPM and FAO guides put it at 50 to 51.

How many coconut palms per acre?

FAO lists 120 to 200 per hectare for tall varieties, so 49 to 81 per acre. A Sri Lankan trial found the highest yield per hectare at about 171 to 179 palms per hectare, which is 69 to 72 per acre.

Can I plant palms closer and thin them later?

Yes, but plan the thinning. In the West African trial the densest plots led early, then the gap narrowed as crowns competed. Thin before shading cuts the yield of the trees you keep.

How do I convert palms per hectare to palms per acre?

Multiply by 0.405. For example, 143 per hectare is about 58 per acre. For a hand count from spacing, divide 43,560 by the area each tree needs in square feet.

Does the spacing in this guide apply to my farm?

Use it as a starting point. Spacing trials come from single sites. Check with your local extension service or palm research board for your soil, rainfall and variety.