We propagate the best cacao trees on our farm through the process of grafting. Dan taught us about a couple of techniques he uses on our cacao farm in Lahaina, Maui. Eventually, we will have fields of single varietal cacao and be able to produce single varietal, single origin chocolate.

Seedlings are grown in the nursery for 4-6 months before they are able to be grafted, these trees are known as the rootstock.

The tree to be propagated -  one with desirable characteristics such as high yield, upright architecture, unique flavor.

Grafting or budding are methods where a cutting from the desirable tree, known as the scion, is spliced into a host seedling (the rootstock). The grafted tree will grow and produce the same fruit as the original tree.

Several different techniques can be used.

An easy technique for grafting cacao is known as the “top wedge graft”, and is where the stem of the rootstock is pruned back and the stem is cut vertically.

The scion branch is cut at sharp angles on both sides to produce a wedge that is slipped into the cut in the rootstock. The junction is taped and within less than two weeks, the grafted stem begins to grow new leaves.

 In this next case, the method is called patch grafting and is where a small rectangle of bark containing a bud is extracted from a cutting of the 

A small opening is made on the bark of the rootstock, and the scion is carefully inserted and tied

This method is rather surgical, requiring more skill to make precision cuts, but because it only uses one bud at a time, can be used to produce a greater number of grafted trees compared to other techniques.