You won't be able to harvest chocolate, but the cocoa plant is an attractive eye-catcher for your conservatory. It needs a lot of heat and high humidity all year round. So the cacao plant is not easy to care for.
The cocoa plant comes from the Latin American rainforest
The origin
The original home of the cocoa plant is in the tropical rainforests of Latin America. There they can grow to be around 10 to 15 meters tall, sometimes even 20 if not growing on a plantation. There the cocoa plants are pruned to a size of about two to four meters. A single tree bears up to 100,000 flowers a year, but only about 30 to 50 fruits.
The cocoa plant in the conservatory
The living room is not a good place to grow a cacao plant because it needs a different climate than the human occupants of that room. In a heated conservatory, you can create a more suitable indoor climate for the cocoa tree. He likes it warm and humid.
The blossom
The cacao tree is one of the so-called stem bloomers, which means that its flowers are located directly on the trunk or on larger branches. Unfortunately, it rarely blooms indoors. It will certainly not bear fruit at all, because at least two plants are required for this.
The requirements of the cocoa plant in brief:
- Location: bright, warm, humid, no direct sun
- Soil: moist, loose, permeable
- ideal temperature: around 24 °C (never colder than 20 °C, rarely warmer than 30 °C)
- ideal humidity: 70 to 90 percent
Care of the cocoa plant
Once you have created the ideal room climate for your cocoa plant, then further care will certainly not be a problem for you. Be sure to water regularly, but a little less in winter than in the summer months. Behave similarly when fertilizing.
If the air in your conservatory becomes a bit dry, you can help with a humidifier or a humidifier. On the other hand, it is better to avoid spraying the plant. This could easily start mold on the leaves.
tips
Make absolutely sure that the humidity does not fall below 70 percent and the temperature does not fall below 20 °C. Then your cocoa tree can grow into a strong plant.