2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Cocoa, or Chocolate tree (lat.theobroma cacao) - an evergreen tree of the Theobroma genus of the Malvov family. Previously, the genus was reckoned to the Sterkuliev family. The homeland of the plant is considered to be the forest zones of the Amazon. Currently, cocoa is widely cultivated in subequatorial Africa, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Malaysia. Cocoa is also called a powder made from cocoa beans and a drink.
Characteristics of culture
Cocoa is a large tree up to 12-15 m high with a densely leafy, wide-spread crown and a straight trunk, reaching 25-30 cm in diameter. The branches are numerous, located whorled along the periphery of the crown. Leaves are green, entire, oblong-elliptical or rounded, thin, alternate, short-petiolate, up to 30 cm long.
The flowers are medium-sized, up to 1.5 cm in diameter, red-pink or pink-white, collected in bundle-shaped inflorescences, sitting on short pedicels. Flowers are formed in internodes of large branches and bare trunks. This phenomenon is called caulifloria, it is inherent in most representatives of tropical forests. Cocoa flowers have a very unpleasant odor that attracts dung butterflies and flies.
The fruit is berry-shaped, rather large, covered with longitudinal grooves. On average, one fruit contains 30-40 oval brown or reddish seeds surrounded by white or pink flesh. Fruit shell is leathery, always wrinkled, very dense, yellow, red or orange. The culture blooms in the second year after planting, begins to bear fruit only for 4-5 years.
Growing at home
Propagated by cocoa seeds and cuttings. Seeds are sown immediately after harvest, as they quickly lose their germination. Sowing is carried out with a narrow end up in pots with a diameter of 7-8 cm, filled with a soil mixture consisting of leafy and soddy soil, and coarse sand. The seeding depth is 2-2.5 cm. Before the emergence of seedlings, the pots with crops are kept in a room with a temperature of about 25C. It is important to regularly water them with water at room temperature. As a rule, the first shoots appear on the 14-20th day.
You can propagate the chocolate tree by cuttings. Cuttings are cut in early spring from healthy, semi-freshened shoots. It should be remembered: cuttings cut from lateral shoots form bushy cocoa trees during growth, and single-stemmed trees from vertical shoots. Cuttings are planted in containers with a fertile substrate mixed with sand in equal proportions. In the heat, containers with cuttings are shaded, drafts and temperature drops to 10C are avoided.
Care
Top dressing is one of the most important care procedures for the chocolate tree. Fertilizers are applied from March to September monthly. Plants are fed with organic fertilizers, and during flowering and fruit formation - with mineral complex fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen. The cocoa tree requires moisture, it must be watered and sprayed systematically, but it should not be overmoistened. In order to prevent the development of fungal diseases, plants are periodically treated with special solutions.
Application
Cocoa beans are widely used in the food industry, especially in the confectionery industry. They are used to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter and chocolate. Cocoa beans are used in pharmacology, perfumery and cosmetology. The butter obtained from the cocoa beans is active against severe coughs. Cocoa butter is effective for asthma and pneumonia. This medicinal product has antibacterial, antiviral and expectorant properties.
