Hi, I am new to this forum, and have a question about fruit tree natural "dwarfing". I have a bunch of theobroma cacao (forestero) seedlings coming along, and some of them are about a third the height of the others. They are NOT stunted - they have good thick trunks, big healthy leaves and they are branching normally. They just have very short internode distance. The cotyledons on the sprouts rose to only about 1/4 inch above the soil line, whereas the others were about 1 1/2 inches above the soil line. They have all gotten EXACTLY the same sun, water and food as the normal ones. I even rotate them all to make sure they don't lean, etc. I am cautiously excited. They are only two months old though. Could I have some true dwarf cacao trees? Or is it too early to tell? Has anybody else experienced this, in cacao, or other tropical fruit trees? Being in a greenhouse, and having limited height, natural dwarfs would be great! Thanks!
It is hard to believe, that dwarfing would be so apparent so soon (2 months after planting the seeds). I planted some Fig (Ficus carica) seeds this spring. Should I expect some dwarfed specimens, as the results vary largely in size (although all were sown the same day)?
This is not my area of expertise, but lacking someone else keeping this thread alive, I'll temporarily fill in some food for thought. Seedlings are like any other children: they are a combination of Mom & Dad's genes, and while not exactly random, they are all over the map. God only knows if all the seedlings came from the same pollen parent, and even if they did, he or they could have been the result of dozens of crosses, as could the pod parent. You can see where this is going. Even if you think you know what the coupling was from a tree in a like-grove, it's still going to be subject to a lot of variation. Even to do hand pollinating, you still have to get there before the bees. Or the wind. A large percentage of plants are specific crosses that produce a market crop, but are either sterile or their seed does not continue their line. Sounds like you just got lucky. Or unlucky if that's the expression of a line that has lousy beans. It may make a nice houseplant size because the internodes are usually some function of the length of the leaf: long leaves accompany long internodes. Smaller leaf might be nice, but chocolate likes equatorial heat and humidity without much direct sun, and that's really hard to provide in the temperate latitudes. I just gave one away after trying to grow it for six years for my grandchildren. It wasn't happy outdoors in summer or in the greenhouse in winter. The leaves make banana leaves look durable. It puts out flowers at this time of year, but never set seed, so... It wouldn't die or stop getting bigger and taking a bigger slice of my very moderate greenhouse, and autumn is the time of year I have to make decisions about who stays and who goes. So I says to myself, "Self, them kids like the figs..."
Thanks Michigander. I have several mature and producing cacao trees already, so I hear you about them being on the finicky side! When I decide to pollinate, I have to set aside several weeks of daily pollinating, marking each flower that I did, since they are only viable for a few hours. It can really be a time-sucker! Hopefully I got lucky and I get good fruit, and not unlucky. Reminds me a bit of hairless breeds of dogs. Usually, when you get no hair, you also get no, or few, teeth! Guess I'll find out in a couple of years!
