Charley’s Cocoa Tree's April 2022 Blog showed the progress of cocoa trees from seedling to grafted tree, ready to plant.

Agriculture is a fickle thing as the cold weather of 2022 at Mission Beach delayed the planting out of our grafted trees into Block 4.

Block 4

But good news is at hand. As at March 2023 trees are now planted into block 4. The trees have been in the ground for 3-4 weeks. Critical factors when planting are losses. Pleasingly, to date, losses have been minimal. All credit to our outside team who have carefully done the planting and nurturing. Usefully Charley’s now has expertise in cocoa tree propagation. 

Charley’s trees – block 4 at March 2023 – small trees and a row 

These Block 4 baby trees have been in the ground for 3-4 weeks.

Block 3 - Mt Edna plantation

The cold weather in 2022 also held back our established trees. Unhappy cocoa trees start to shed leaves and mope. Once the weather warms, they flourish, to the extent that we are approaching our third harvest from Mt Edna since November 2022.

A happy cocoa tree with juvenile pods – March 2023

Happy baby trees in the nursery- March 2023 

Mt Edna plantation – March 2023 – flourishing after much rain

Mount Edna needs a prune. But tractors get stuck in soggy ground, so pruning will be done once the ground dries out a bit.

Agriculture is an ever-changing landscape. I hope you enjoy these sites of cocoa in Far North Queensland.