A tropical tree from the Amazon basin producing what we all know and love- Chocolate! Okay, well the main ingredient needed to make chocolate! The pods that grow on the Cocoa tree contain about 40 cocoa beans that are surrounded by a sweet tasting pulp. The tree can be kept at a more disable height by pruning.
Light Requirements
Cocoa is usually found growing underneath a canopy in the rainforest however they can tolerate sunshine, but it is suggested to start out as a young tree under some shade.
Soil Conditions:
Well draining soil
Water Requirements
Water well and regularly
Full Size
6- 9 metres Tall
Temperature
Cocoa Trees don't tolerate cold temperates very well. Preferable temperates above 20 degrees. If it is grown in colder climates, the less cocoa pods the tree will produce.
Did you know?!
- A Cocoa Tree can live for 200 years!?
- The Aztecs and Mayans used cocoa pods as a means of payment, gifts and offerings to the gods!?
- The pollination process is carried out by flies (gnats)!?
