Cacao is an understudy tree being shaded heavily for most if not all of it's life. So it can handle the shade and at this age is best left out of any direct light. I would not supplement any light for them. Put them farther back in the room and whatever light comes in should be plenty. I had a nice one and got careless with light. Ended up killing it.

The leaves turning greenish-yellow "may" be an acid/iron deficiency. You could mix up a weak solution of Ironite and add that when watering. It can work wonders if you are careful. They prefer a more acid soil.

I have three seedlings about 15 inches tall in gallon pots. I just brought them inside the house for the winter and set them near a window. No tray, no spraying, no greenhouse covering. They do have small brown tips to their leaves but nothing major. The new leaves are yellowish but again, nothing serious. We've been kinda cold lately and the house temp has been in the high sixties. They are doing fine and growing much more than I thought they would. The guy I got them from said to just bring them inside and keep them as houseplants during the winter. He never said anything about baby-ing them so I didn't. They are in a somewhat dark room with sunlight coming in the window only at sunrise, by ten oclock all light is indirect. You might be taking too good of care of yours.

Thanks, guys. I pulled the light out for now. I noticed the next day that the leaves had moved so that they are now perpendicular to the stem. Maybe there was too much light before.

OHIO here...jay where u from?

where can i find cacao plants or seed to germinate

also might like to grow coffee plant

Columbus... YOu'd probably have to order. Pine Island has them.

Hey guys I see the thread is from 2008. I have a 24" seedling, and the new leaves are coming in sagging and very thin. Thoughts on changes I could make?

Very generally speaking, a "bright" room is much darker than you might imagine. Take a room that you feel is well-lit, place a good light meter in it, then compare that reading to somewhere outside, under the shade of trees. The latter will be much brighter, you will find. Indoors is dark, even though we humans may see well enough and be able to read print, etc.....for a plant, an organism that actually runs on light energy, a very different picture. I'd keep the light going. No way are you giving this too much light. No way, not no how.........

The leaves on cacao plants tend to be thin and sag a bit.

Baby cacao plants can actually take more light than older plants if you have a humid environment. I grow my babies in direct morning sun and afternoon shade outside. I will post some pics later when i get on my home computer.

Regular incandescent light bulbs may not be the best for a cacao plant. The bulbs give off heat and a fair amount of infrared heat rays. It is true that tropical plants need warmth, but this type of direct heat can also cause the exposed leaf surfaces to dry out. Cacao plants like humidity.

This is a little bit of a difficult distinction to understand. Heat is good, but when that heat is unevenly distributed onto the plant it can be bad. Also, the warmer it is, the higher humidity levels the plant should have. Although cacao prefers warmer temperatures, if the air is not humid enough it will have more trouble growing in warmer temperatures than slightly cooler.

Hey guys I'm new to all this i live in Sydney Australia and have 4 cocoa trees about a foot tall i bought 3 online and grew 1 from a seed the seedlings seems to be doing the best with all five leafs burnt back half way and the other 3 one is in the same situation as the seedlings and the other 2 have lost all the leafs we had a brutal winter with temps around 3 degrees Celsius I have them out doors in a green house that occasionally rips open from wind do my very best to keep them around 18 degrees c with 60% to 90 % humidity all of them except the seedling has lots of new shoots just popping through the bark will they survive? There about a month left before spring is here then the battle for summer:( please any help will be great like I said I'm new to this so sorry if iv left anything