Grow your own chocolate factory
21.08.2023 - 12:00
/ theunconventionalgardener.com
/ Emma Doughty
If you’ve ever wished you lived in a tropical climate, simply so that you could grow your own chocolate, then the future is looking bright. Last time I touched on this subject I mentioned plants that might add a chocolatey touch to your garden (with their colour, scent and even flavour).
But in the next few years it looks more likely that you’ll be able to have your own mini chocolate factory in the conservatory, as the horticultural trade are dropping hints about their best-kept secret.
Plant hunters exploring in Amazon have made an interesting discovery – a variety of chocolate growing in a very isolated river valley has evolved to be self-pollinating, thought to be because it has been isolated from the small flies that are needed to pollinate other varieties. The good news is that this particular variety is also naturally shorter than other cocoa plants (which are usually small trees, between 4 and 8 metres tall).
This new-found plant belongs to the Forastero cultivar group – much-used in chocolate production. Although the Criollo cultivar group is considered to give more pungent beans, the Forastero group has the advantage of being naturally hardier, another important point for cultivation outside of its natural habitat.
Chocolate is made from the fruiting pods of Theobroma cacao, which translates as ‘Food of the Gods’. Naturally an understory plant, it is used to indirect light and damp conditions.
Plant breeders here in the UK are already working on a new dwarf cultivar Theobroma cacao ‘Willie Wonker’, which should be available to nursery owners in 2012, although it won’t be widely available to the public until at least 2013 as it will take time to build up stocks – demand is expected to be high! However, for those of
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