I have a 19 year old tree, now about 1,2m high, planted from a seed found in Kenya. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is but one person said it might be a cocoa tree. I have searched for info on cocoa trees as bonsai as it is getting too tall and wide to maintain as it grows w gusto, with no luck. Any tips on 1) if cocoa is a good tree to train as bonsai. 2) How to best care for it? It is currently in a very large pot, about 50 cm in diameter and about the same depth and it has been replanted many times to bigger pots to allow it to grow.
Cocoa tree Bonsai?
- Thread starter Filippa
- Start date
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Well thanks but if that is a chocolate tree then mine isn't as those leaves are very different to the one on my tree. I'll keep looking.
Is that a tree you have tried to work, cut or shape?
Michael P
Omono
Almost any woody species can be kept smaller with the methods used in bonsai. It may not be successful from an bonsai aesthetic viewpoint, but bonsai techniques are a specialized form of horticulture that reliably produces dwarfed trees.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
No. It is Cacao Theobroma, I bought it as a show & tell for my grandchildren to grow chocolate beans so I let it run to the size & age necessary to set fruit. It was never happy in my situation.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Chocolate, like almost all other fruiting/flowering trees bloom on this year's extensions of last year's growth, which means you get to choose whether you want fruit or compactness. And, less foliage equals less woody growth. Can you make one smaller? Yes, for no reason other than you want a small tree with big leaves like many other trees that won't cooperate. You can reduce Norway Maple down to one leaf. It will still be bigger than your hand.
