I cut the top off just like you would a pumpkin. then i washed the seeds by rubbing them under water between my hands until all the gelatin came off. put them in small pots filled with half vermiculite half perlite in a large aquarium. I placed a heating pad underneath and a plastic tarp on top to keep in humidity. They sprouted in about a week, and now i have more plants then i know what to do with!!! I sprouted three pods worth of seeds and got about 80 plants.

Thanks a lot im going to order a pod today but i wasnt sure it was a good idea until you told me it worked, i have been looking everywhere for these plants and i could never find them.
What are you going to do with all those trees?

The membrane surrounding the seeds is supposed to taste great. Someone sent me some fresh seeds from a pod they had and most sprouted within 10 days but I did have a couple that took almost a month. They are growing pretty fast. I have them in deep pots and they are shaded somewhat by some taller plants. I just hope I can provide enough humidity when I have to bring them in for the winter.
Karyn

Yeah hopefully they will sprout quick because we have a long summer in florida and i want them to get as big as they can get before winter begins

Hey Chris,

Curious if you can email me info on where to buy a seed pod? Or would I be better off going to Exclibur to get a small tree?? In in Ft Lauderdale.

Thanks,

Tropicalfreakfla at yahoo dot com

Tropicalfreak Montoso Gardens in P.R. sells a few varieties of whole pods. They also sell loose seeds and plants.
HTH,
Karyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Montosa Gardens

no dont go to montoso gardens, go to tropilab they have better prices plus you get a lot more for your money, i searched all the sites and this has the best deal for seeds and seed pods,but if you want I have like20-30 seedlings oming in the mail i can snd you some?

I haven't ordered from either place but did check both out when looking for some tropical seeds. Tropilab had an iffy rating on GWD and Montoso had a 100% positive rating. I also know some people who have purchased plants from Montoso and all were satisfied.
Karyn

oh really, thats nice to know now after I ordered from there haha. I just got a tree arrival today from ebay and it looks really good, but still havent got my seed pod yet!

Anyone know where I can find/buy fresh cacao podsÂmaybe online? I'd like to be able to grow them in my greenhouse in NY.

Chris and tropical
I'm in Ft Lauderdale too, I have 2 different types of trees.
1 is a yellow pod and 1 is an orange pod.
I got mine from Pine Island nursery.
you can mail order or you can drive there, not far at all if you go through the everglades, Rt 29.
They are in Homestead off of Chrome Ave and nicely priced.
bought my 1st over a year ago, it was only a few inches tall, grew 4 feet in the first year. the second was already that tall when I bought it a few months ago.
they also have LOTS of other really neat fruit and spice trees,as does excalibur
I am starting to grow some from cuttings.
my trees I don't bring inside for the winter though

If anyone cares the pods sold at Montoso, while differing in description, are all trinitario cacao seed pods. They sell criollo cacao trees too.

Does anyone know if these trees will grow in subtropical florida zone 9 outside unprotected? I have wanted some for awhile but could never figure out if they would survive my winters, my average low is 28f at least once a year. thanks

Does anyone know if these trees will grow in subtropical florida zone 9 outside unprotected? I have wanted some for awhile but could never figure out if they would survive my winters, my average low is 28f at least once a year. thanks