Germinating Cacao seeds (NO success after 100 seeds) HELP!

[ELBARTO]

Hi there,

I've been trying to germinate theobroma cacao seeds for a while without success, I'll list what I did so far (grown indoors, 25-30 C).

- bought fresh cacao pods
- peel the seeds
- place them in water OR place them in soil in a grow box with grow lights OR place them in heated greenhouse with constant humidity OR place the seeds in wet paper towels = nothing
- same processes with not peeled seeds.

I think that maybe I moist the soil too much or that there is too much humidity or even that I bother the seeds by checking the ones in paper towels whilst germinating.

I've had no success after so many trials' yet I bought another cacao pod that should arrive tomorrow, any tips on what I can do to finally germinate these seeds? PLEASE

[rainbowgardener]

I've never done it. It sounds like you are doing everything right. They like it really warm, but 30 deg C should be plenty and 25 deg C still OK.

My guess about the soil is maybe not free draining enough. What is recommended is a mix of compost and coarse sand, the coarse sand to help with the drainage. They need to not dry out, but stay damp/moist, not wet. The soil/ potting mix should be acidic, so maybe use something made for roses or azaleas.

[imafan26]

You need to get seeds from a ripe cacao pod. It can be no more than 15 days under ripe and it cannot be too old. The best seeds will be from the middle of the pod.

You can wash the coating off the seeds. The white stuff actually tastes sweet, but not like cocoa, so why waste it, eat it and clean the seeds at the same time.

Plant seeds in a flat or nursery bed. Seeds need to be kept warm; they will die if the temperature is under 60 and they like it around 80 degrees. If you live somewhere cold you need to find a place near a heater or top of the refrigerator or near the refrigerator motor where it will be the warmest or keep them on a heating mat. They are an under story tree so they like a lot of humidity so they want the soil to be damp but well drained and very warm. They do fine with indirect or dappled light.

If the seeds are viable and kept warm and damp, they should germinate in less than two weeks.

Good luck.

Cacao should be able to produce pods in 4-5 years, but often is not self pollinating so will need a friend. It is usually pollinated by tropical midges, so you may have to hand pollinate to get pods.

[ELBARTO]

Thank you all I'll try out mixing the soil with sand to get a good drainage, only the mini greenhouse as a bottom heat mad but the grow box maintains a 30C temperature very well without. I use tap water but if I have to reach an acidic level (around 6.5 or below) I can.

The pods were always fresh, I'm waiting for the new one so I can send a pic. Until now before starting the seeds I soaked them in water and peeled them with my hands, afterwards place them in the various growing mediums (some the same day, some the day after). Also the mini greenhouse is near a very sunny window so maybe the temperature gets too high...

But to make this more clear as soon as I get home I'll send you some pics of the germinating mediums so you guys can tell me if there is anything except the over moisted soil that I'm doing wrong.

(P.S. I'm trying out some banana varieties too: musa velutina, musa sikkimensis, etc, I soaked them for three days and placed them in a half sealed plastic bag but instead of germinating, the seeds release a white looking liquid as to suggest fungi formation, I'll send you some pics of those too)

[imafan26]

The University of Hawaii is trialing lowland cacao and has a windbreak of some very tall grass. The trial plot is 17 ft above sea level.

Cacao grows best between 600-800 ft with at least 60 inches of rain a year. It can grow between 300ft and 1200 ft.

Skip Bittenbender of the University of Hawaii has done extensive research on cacao and is trying to revive and grow the local cacao industry. This publication may give you some idea of the conditions that are required for optimum growth and some advice on how to start the seeds.

https://www.growables.org/information/Tr ... y_crop.pdf

[ELBARTO]

Interesting,
so temperature can also be above 30, and it states that seeds can germinate directly in the pod (I have tried to leave a cacao pod to mature but it only dried out).

Here the pics of the growing mediums:
(mini green house)

(banana seeds in soil)

(banana seeds in plastic bags)

(cacao seeds in moist paper towels)

(peeled cacao seeds in moist paper towels in plastic bag outside green house)

(grow box)

(temperature/humidity)

(cacao seed zombie rises from the dead XD)

[imafan26]

Yeah, according to what I have read some of the growers don't even bother to wash the seeds. The just take the seeds out of the pod and plant them in the field. It is more important to get a pod at the right stage of ripeness and that the seeds be planted fresh and not allowed to dry out.

I ate the pulp that surrounds the seeds in the pod it is sweet, but does not taste anything like cacao. The botanical garden where I volunteer planted a couple of cacao trees but one was in too much light and the leaf edges browned. It was also in the open facing the great lawn so it got caught by the wind too. The other one did better as it was in more shade and at least one side was blocked by the heliconias.

The other garden I volunteer at is owned by the University of Hawaii. Besides the cacao trial patch we do have a cacao tree in the boardwalk garden. For a while people were wondering if it was ever going to make pods and were even considering getting it a friend. Then a few months later the pods started to show up and it has been making pods fairly regularly now. It is on a berm, the boardwalk garden is a serpentine boardwalk path around high berms. It had to be done that way because while Pearl City doesn't rain much, the garden is in a low lying area and the boardwalk becomes a temporary stream when it floods so the berms were created so the plants wouldn't drown. Cacao like a lot of water but cannot stand wet feet.

Commercially, cacao was sometimes grown as a second crop in the coffee fields. Both cacao and coffee are understory trees that grow best at higher elevations and like regular water and the protection of larger trees. The coffee farm uses pines as a windbreak. and the tall ones would provide shade for the trees.