Well, I started mine at 85º and had a total germination... I also planted them in 4" pots, which they quickly outgrew.
they like it WARM. Plus the age of the seeds matter. I was told that they need to be planted within a week.

The seeds have to be extremely fresh and they are easily subject to mold.

Joxo1990, did you get your seeds fresh out of the pod? If so, the cocoa butter needs to be cleaned off very well or they can mold. Ambient humidity can also cause seed mold. The humidity of the record rains last year destroyed many of my seeds. I lost many seeds before I figured this out. You might check out your non-germinating seeds & see what they look like. If they are molding you might ventilate during the day.
Also, some of them also take longer to germinate.

I know they have to be fresh -- I got mine right out of the pod; i soaked them overnight and stuck them in the ground. They sprouted so fast I was afraid they were going to get up and walk away! I think if they dry out at all before being planted, the germanation rate falls off very fast...

Dave why did you soak them? Were yours dry inside the fruit? Mine were taken right out of the fruit too but were still quite gooey and certainly didn't need to be soaked in water! At least not because they were dry. Is there another reason?

Someone mentioned removing the "butter" first. Cacao butter is a product of the beans but isn't, as far as I know, the name of the goo inside the fruits. But that is another question of mine. Do you need to remove the white membranous covering on the seeds before sowing?

Thanks, Breck

The fruit around the Cacoa seeds is actually very sweet and tasty .. I suck them with glee , seeds are very easy to sprout when planted clean and fresh . They are going to be grown here as a new crop to replace sugarcane .

Hello i don't understand very much your english because i am italian, i don't understand technical terms so if someone can help me to understand how to make the seed grow up i will be very pleased.
I don't understand if your are speaking about 85° farenheit or degrees.
Please someone can explain me how to make the seed grow up step to step?
What kind of land?
Thank you

Best regards

Lorenzo

Has anyone had success of growing them in a cold climate indoors. I live in Sweden.

Cacao seem to be very susceptible to damping off. Well draining, sterile potting medium with some fungicide applied to the seeds should do the trick.

Jeff

Lorenzo...85 farenheit is degrees...usually expressed as "85 degrees farenheit".

Cacao has been the easiest tropical fruit seed, besides cherimoya, to germinate. If you have access to fresh, meaning ripe, pods, then that is best and you will also be able to eat the wonderfully sweet flesh surrounding the seeds.

Many times the seeds have already started to sprout while in the pod itself. Eating the flesh from the seed is about as clean as I ever got one. Get some very acidic soil mix that drains well and then barely cover the seeds. I put 20-30 seeds in one flat container together. Heck of a lot faster and easier than doing one at a time. Keep them moist, warm, and in a semi-dark location and they will germinate within a week. Let them grow out to around 8+ inches or so and true leaves have started to grow, then you can transplant the individual plants into their own container...using the same acidic mix. Keep them out of direct sun. Try and give them as much humidity as you can. Keep them well watered.

I've always been fortunate to have very fresh pods to extract the seeds and contributes heavily to pretty much 100% germination. Good luck.

Has anyone ever noticed how cool cacao seeds look when they are germinating? Talk about your Little Shop of Horrors... LOL!

Hi, I'm in Cambodia, looking for information on where I can buy Cacao seeds? Any information and help will be very much appreciated

Montoso Gardens in Puerto Rico sells fresh seeds. I have no idea if they'll ship to Cambodia but you can ask.

Here is a link that might be useful: Montoso Gardens

I bought a fresh cacao pod, cut it in half, pulled all the seed out onto a wet dish cloth. I scrubbed each seed clean and placed them in tap water until I had all the seeds clean. Then I placed them in organic soil and watered them. I live in Portland Oregon where the nights get cool even in the summer. My seeds all grew to about one inch tall. I had 39 plants. Three of my plants died. I divided the seedlings into two groups. One I have inside under grow lights the others are outside on a shelf wrapped in plastic. They love the side of my garage in the shade. About four seedlings have the new leaves turning brown. I don't know what happened to them. The ones outside seem very healthy. This pot holds one good plant and one bad plant. It was outside until one cool night of 59 F. I brought all but ten inside. This is about week four. No fertilizer just water.

Did you buy the pod in OR? I've not seen any here in NorCal.