Hello all,
I just purchased two cacao plants and was wondering if anyone on the forum had any experience with this type of plant. I live in zone 9. Thanks,
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BigBoifrom904
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- Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:24 am
Cacao are under story trees. They need to be protected from the wind and while they can take the sun, they usually grow under the canopy of larger trees with dappled light. they often are grown near rivers and plants grown from seed will have a deep taproot. Trees grown from cuttings won't. They need a lot of moisture. They will take at least 3-5 years to produce pods and it is good you have two since pollination is sometimes and issue.
Pollination is accomplished by midges. Most plants in dark rain forests are pollinated by flies, moths and even ants rather than bees. The flowers are cauliflorous and will show up along the trunk of the tree. There will be many flowers but most of them will drop off and only a few pods 3 out of 1000 flowers are likely to form. They produce more pods once the bugs are established around them. In the beginning before the bugs found the tree we thought it was never going to fruit. It was 5 years old. Now it produces pods regularly. Pods will take 8 months to mature on the tree.
Pollination is accomplished by midges. Most plants in dark rain forests are pollinated by flies, moths and even ants rather than bees. The flowers are cauliflorous and will show up along the trunk of the tree. There will be many flowers but most of them will drop off and only a few pods 3 out of 1000 flowers are likely to form. They produce more pods once the bugs are established around them. In the beginning before the bugs found the tree we thought it was never going to fruit. It was 5 years old. Now it produces pods regularly. Pods will take 8 months to mature on the tree.
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BigBoifrom904
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:24 am