Cacao
7
5
5Will it grow where I live?
Cacao is not winter-hardy in Central Europe (zone 12): outdoors from spring to autumn only, otherwise a container plant overwintered frost-free. The summer heat it needs to ripen is out of reach outdoors in Central Europe – greenhouse or conservatory.
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Profile
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Height
- 7 m
- Spread
- 7.5 m
- Growth
- medium
- Lifespan
- 60 years
- First yield
- after 4 years
- Hardiness
- zone 12–13
- Shade tolerance
- partial shade
- Soil
- Silt, Loam
- Soil moisture
- dry – moist
- pH
- 5 – 7
Varieties (14)
14 varieties of Cacao are listed in the Permaplans variety finder — each with its own page: taste, ripening time, disease resistance, parentage and use.
- Amelonado The melon-shaped Forastero classic, backbone of West African cacao growing.
- CCN-51 The high-yielding, disease-tolerant clone that revolutionised bulk cacao growing worldwide.
- Chuao Origin-protected cult cacao from the Venezuelan coastal village of Chuao.
- Criollo The world's finest cacao – mild, aromatic and free of bitterness, but delicate and low-yielding.
- EET-400 Aromatic Nacional elite clone from Ecuador's state breeding programme to preserve the Arriba aroma.
- Forastero The robust bulk cacao – high-yielding and hardier, the basis of roughly 80% of world production.
- ICS-1 Widely propagated Trinitario elite clone from Trinidad with large beans and good aroma.
- IMC-67 Hardy Amazon Forastero, valued as a disease-tolerant rootstock and parent clone.
- Nacional Ecuador's famous Arriba cacao with a distinctive floral, spicy aroma.
- Porcelana White-beaned pure Criollo from Venezuela – one of the rarest and finest cacaos in the world.
- SCA-6 Famous witches'-broom-resistant Amazon clone, central to worldwide resistance breeding.
- Trinitario Hardy fine-flavour hybrid combining Criollo aroma with Forastero resilience.
- TSH-565 High-yielding, self-compatible Trinitario hybrid clone with good disease tolerance.
- UF-676 Proven Trinitario clone from the United Fruit selection, hardy and widely grown in Central America.
Uses
Frequently asked questions
Cacao: how big does it get?
Cacao (Theobroma cacao) grows as a Tree and reaches roughly 7 m in height when mature, with a spread of about 7.5 m. Growth is medium.
Cacao: what site does it need?
Cacao tolerates partial shade. Suitable soils are Silt, Loam. Soil moisture should be in the range dry – moist. The pH may lie between 5 and 7.
Cacao: is it hardy?
Cacao is listed as hardy in zone 12–13 and survives normal winters outdoors there.
Cacao: will it grow in Central Europe?
Cacao is not winter-hardy in Central Europe (zone 12): outdoors from spring to autumn only, otherwise a container plant overwintered frost-free. The summer heat it needs to ripen is out of reach outdoors in Central Europe – greenhouse or conservatory.
Cacao: is it poisonous?
No toxicity is recorded for Cacao. With wild plants, never rely on a database alone — only on a confident identification.
Cacao: what is it used for?
Rated on a scale up to 10: Edible 7/10, Medicinal 5/10, Other uses 5/10.
Which Cacao varieties are there?
The Permaplans variety finder lists 14 varieties of Cacao, including Amelonado, CCN-51, Chuao, Criollo, EET-400, Forastero, ICS-1, IMC-67, Nacional, Porcelana, SCA-6, Trinitario and 2 more. Each variety has its own page with taste, ripening time, disease resistance and parentage.
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