Moving Cacao Tree

Moving this guy will be a small feat.

First thing to do is to wrap the pot, dirt and all in plastic wrap so the soil doesn't move too much during transport.

Next I will need to figure out some kind of support for the trunk and leaves.  One suggestion was to wrap it loosely in paper or plastic but I think I will end up having someone hold the tree steady during transport.

To transport it I will put it on it's side and angled up a little so that it will be able to fit in the car.  It's now 4'3" tall from the dirt up, pot included it's right at 5' even.  Just think about trying to get a person in a car without bending their hips or legs.

Of course the plant will need to be upright as soon as possible so that it will be ok.

When I got the vanilla orchids they were mailed to me.  They came wrapped in paper with other paper wadded up and put between the leaves.  If I tried that it would be a lot of work for just the one tree for transport.  Also no guarantee that it would not shift around while moving.  The little yellow pot is going to be simple in comparison as well as the dozen other pots in the back of the office.  They will need to be moved to the apartment though probably.  Not nearly as much space in the new place.

Cacao Tree Sizing

When sizing a tree you don't actually care quite as much about the height of the tree as compared to the caliper, or diameter of the trunk of the tree.

So whereas the height of this tree is now just at four feet high, the caliper of the tree is up to a half an inch. Compare to the little shoot it started out as, this is quite an accomplishment.  Each time a tree adds to the leaves it has to put in more tubing and thus trunk to supply nutrients to the foliage. The plan is to keep the tree to just under seven feet tall, but the trunk needs to get to at least 2 inches so it can support the fruit. I'm hoping for at least 3 inches though before I allow fruit to form just to make sure the tree is healthy.

Currently it is in it's second year of growth and will probably take at least 2 more years before it starts flowering, maybe a year and a half since it was started in the fall.  I expect the first harvest to possibly be in 2023 or 2024 which would be just in time for the total solar eclipse over Dallas in October 2024.

Cacao Tree Up to 42 Inches

That little growth spurt has now over doubled in size bringing the tree to about 3 1/2 feet tall.  It's now a decent sized office plant and will be finding its way to the floor soon in a slightly larger pot.

Of course it'll still be a few years before it will try to flower and produce but I'm hopeful.  Some of the other plants are hanging in there but none of them are doing quite as well as this one.  It's former pot buddy is still growing slowly and is putting out another leaf but it will be some time before it needs repotting.

The little forest of sprouts is still looking good.  There are a few empty pots that I'm sure these can be transplanted into in the coming week.

New Cacao Growth Spurt

The cacao tree has been putting out new leaves for some time but it has decided with this last bunch of leaves to get some added height as well.

You can clearly see the leaf cluster at the base of the previous growth, usually 2 leaves at a time.  This group is actually 4 leaves which so far is pretty uncommon.  I'm not sure what the change or difference is this time around but I'm happy to see the progress.To the tip of the trunk is now just over 38 inches.  Previously I have been measuring from top of dirt to the highest leaf arch but this is a much more accurate measurement since the leaves can move so much.  That top is an extra 4.5 inch addition to the tree.

One possible difference might be the extra sun the tree has been getting through the newly acquired window of the office I've been moved to.  The only other thing I can thing of is the relationship to the air conditioning vent blowing on it.

Still going to wait until the office moves to repot it though.  I don't want to have to stress the tree out more than I need to and a smaller pot will be easier to move.