wow, congrats Lisa, you dont have a green thumb, its the whole arm. Would love to see a pic when its bigger.
-Ethan

That`s right Lisa, seems like Theobromas start flowering at a very young age. I got some Theobroma angustifolia which started flowering at 6 months old (after seed germination), it hasn`t hold any fruit, though. Hope you still can get some fruit that young.

Lisa...how about some photos of the young fruit now? Would love to see them and a couple of the tree itself.

Photos now... can't wait!

Eeeuuwww. It looks too ugly right now to pose for pictures(G). It is in the house until night-time temps go back up. It has the typical brown-edged leaves of Cacao in Florida that are not greenhouse-raised. It is keeping the Breadfruit and Sealing Wax Palms entertained with tall tales.

I'm planning to build a shelter of sorts for it, and the Breadfruit, outside this spring. Will have to use telephone poles as "bones" for shadecloth/windbreaks. These trees get big in a hurry!

I'll try some creative photography tomorrow, that doesn't show how bad the foliage is. The fruit is so tiny, it might not make it. But I was still excited to find it(G).

Lisa

hey
great
where did you get it?
I've been looking for a plant
is it a good variety? one that will grow good seeds/nibs?

Orchidguy, I bought my Red-Fruiting Cacao from Pine Island Nursery in Miami. It has been easy to grow, and survived the hurricanes. The fruit on it now is its first.

You can also get very large, gorgeous, fruiting Cacao trees at Excelsia Nursey in Loxahatchee.

Excalibur Rare Fruit Tree Nursery in Lake Worth has them too.

Lisa

oh ok
thats great to know
didnt know Excalibur had them
I'm going to Miami this weekend for the orchid show
I'll check into Pine Island

Hey Lisa,
Thanx for the info. I emailed Pine Islands and they only had yelow fruiting plants left. Fortunately they were saving me a plant to pick up today as I was to be in the area for the Miami Orchid show, the unfortunate thing is that Fairchild gardens ordered a bunch of the trees for their chocolate festival this weekend and accidently shipped my tree there. The fortunate thing is that they called Fairchild Gardens and told them that I was going to stop by and pick it up. So today I stopped at Fairchild after the orchid show and picked up my cacao.
Glad I got everything straightened out and I am loving my plant. trying to find out as much about it as I can.
Hope yours is doing well
will keep you posted on mine
thanx again
John

I was holding off on getting a Cacao because of the likelihood of it fruiting anytime soon and moving onto some grafted or similar quick-fruiting plants, but now you've made me want to get Cacao again. Oh what to do -

For your amusement(G). Here is the fruit. It has reach 1.5 inches in length! I check on it every day, and have been misting/soaking the entire tree 3 times a day lately. It really seems to be liking the extra attention.

Seems silly to be so excited about such a small thing, but hey, it's my very first Cacao(G).

Lisa

That's just way too cool. Great job! Are there any more flowers on the plant? Did you do anything at all to help pollenate? Thanks for the pic.

Silly?!?!?!?!
Noooooo way!
That is just awesome. I would go nuts if I had a fruiting Cacao in my yard. I get excited over tomatoes fruiting, lol. Thanks for sharing!

Ohiojay, I did not do anything to help pollinate the tree. It is my only Cacao, so it pollinated itself. It is not flowering now, but did flower most of last year.

It will be going in the ground soon, now that the telephone poles have arrived, and construction of my protected "Tropical Triangle" can begin in earnest. I've already begun bringing in good, rich soil, and killing off the grass in the planting area. The bases of the poles are much larger than expected, so we will propably rent a mechanical digger instead of hand-digging the holes.
I hope the tree doesn't drop the fruit from shock after being planted. I'll be very, very gentle with it.

I'll get pictures(G).

Lisa

Wow! Best of luck! You really must care for it well to have it fruit! :)

mine seems to be adjusting pretty good, though I lost the new leaves
the stem is still in good shape, seems to be putting out new growthnow
I think I lost the newer leaves due to spraying, I forgot that I had it under some plants that I spray
so now I have it moved under my tree fern by the pond, I dont spray that area
hopefully it wil be ok

Orchidguy, congrats on your new Cacao! I learned that they really, really like to be misted/wet down several times a day. Since it is so dry here, I've been extra vigilent about watering it and the Breadfruit. With the all-over moisture, both trees are sprouting new growth on the trunks, from a few inches above the soil, to the tip-tops.

Good luck with it! They really are fun to grow!

Lisa

great
thanks for the heads up
I'm looking foward to the time when I can harvest my pods
some of my South American students tell me that I will love the flavor of the pulp
I figured they needed a bit more humidity
thats another reason I moved it next to the pond

So how did it go?

Did the pod end up developing for you?

@gcmastiffs, what part(s) of the tree do you mist/wet everyday? Just the soil? I'm in Marina del Rey, CA and my cacao is potted. Air here is not as humid as it is in Florida. Thanks