How to grow a cacao tree at home

Cacao trees are the most difficult plant I have grown, they are much more finicky than many others, and I almost only grow tropical or subtropical plants (in a temperate climate, in France and now Belgium).

I don't know which climate this gentleman lives in, but winter in France has been fatal to several of my trees simply because of the reduced ambient humidity due to needing heating in the house. None have survived more than three years.

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uxhacker 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Until I saw this I was wondering where Switzerland and Belgium got there cocoa from, because I have never seen a tree growing in either country, and one is always hearing about Swiss and Belgium chocolate.

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simtel20 an hour ago | parent [-]

They source from all of the globe's cacao growing regions

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uxhacker 7 minutes ago | parent [-]

Then should it not be Ghanaian chocolate rather than Swiss?

	▲	throwaway219450 a minute ago \| parent [-]
		Chocolate is a product made with cacao and other ingredients. But the best manufacturers declare the origin of their beans, which might be Ghana.

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whatever1 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I love chocolate.

But man some some times I wonder how desperately hungry were the people who made something edible out of the cocoa tree.

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nvme0n1p1 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I wouldn't have assumed they were desperately hungry. Maybe they were bored of eating the same thing every day and looking for some novelty.

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simtel20 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Well, the fruit is a lovely flavor. Once you learn that e.g. pomelo peel has a way to cook and be eaten, you realize the resourcefulness of our forebears and their quest for flavor and a full belly

	▲	markdown 36 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Cacao are OK to suck on (to get the pulp around the seeds), but the seeds themselves taste utterly vile.

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NoMoreNicksLeft an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've never managed to get them taller than 10 inches. And this last year, no leaves at all... the tap root would emerge, but something always kills it quickly. Though, to be fair, those were from a grocery store pod (I think they refrigerate them during transport).

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pvaldes 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Just for the record, Spain produces Cacao since 2022, with the first 70 Kg of fully European Cacao on 2023. Courtesy of some cunning and patient sapiens. And it only toke 100 years of work.

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eltondegeneres 15 hours ago | parent [-]

This is notable because it's in an unheated greenhouse. Lots of botanical gardens around the world, like the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in NYC, have fruit-bearing cacao trees in their (heated) tropical rooms.

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pvaldes 15 hours ago | parent [-]

In greenhouses also in South of Spain. With climate change roaring, more places in the North will be able to culture that. It takes a lot of time to grow and some talent to obtain the fruit but it could be possible. I bet that it tastes 1000 times better than the processed cacao.

The tree can not stand long periods of temperatures below 15 Celsius.

	▲	markdown 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> I bet that it tastes 1000 times better than the processed cacao. It does not. Cacao beans/seeds taste utterly vile. You couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams that the chocolate you buy in stores comes from those disgusting things. There was a cacao plantation on the side of the road that I walked past every day after school when I was between 5 and 14yrs old. I'd always pick a few on the way home to break open a pod and suck on the beans. But if you accidentally bit into one, well /* insert face vomiting emoji */