Forum Activity for @Mark Guiltinan

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

No sorry I do not have a source of seeds but have seen them online from time to time. Problem is, they have no dormancy, so its pretty difficult. They are restricted for importation into the US so to do it legally you need a phytosanitary permit from the country of origin and an import permit you can get from USDA APHIS.

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I have grown cacao plants indoors and they can adapt to low humidity just fine. I have produced pods in the elevator lobby outside my office! Check out the attached pdf with instructions how to grow a cacao plant indoors, complete with pictures of our elevator plant complete with pods. Sorry the pics are a little fuzzy had to reduce them to make the file size small.Enjoy!

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Yes you are right, the color, indicating the presence of flavonoids, is found in most cacao, but some "rare/pure" are white/pinkish. Normally, the purple color trait segregates as a dominant trait, so yes, in a cross with a criollo, the seeds will usually, but not always be purple. It is possible to have a cross where 50% will be white and 50% purple also. Basic Medellian genetics.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Just to be clear about the photo... the wrinkled things near the bottom are the cotyledons, which are formed during embryo development and make up the bulk of the seed, after germination these stay on the plant for a week or two and all the nutrients inside are used by the seedling, then what is left over just falls off the seedling. These are not leaves. The green leaves at the top of the plant are formed from the apical meristem which is a tiny speck at the top of the embryo in the seed, you could not see it without a microscope until the seedling starts to grow and produce leaves. I hope this clarifies this discussion.Mark Guiltinan