Cacao.....when to harvest

[HMHausman]

So I have two trees with pods sizing up.  One was purchased as a yellow fruited variety and it now looks like this after being green up to now.




The other was purchased without any color description.  It is an older tree, but due to freezes in past years, I have never gotten fruit this large yet.  It looks like this:





I found through googling:

The color of the cocoa pods may only be used as a general guide to the ripeness of the cocoa. A much better guide is to tap the cocoa pod. When the pod is still in its unripened state, the beans are packed tightly within the pod. When stuck, if the cocoa pod gives off a deep, hollow sound, the cocoa beans are no longer packed within the pod but are loose, a sure indication that the pod is ripe.

Anyone have any additional suggestions or hints?

[maui guy]

scrape the skin & if not green should be ready.
aloha rich

[fruitlovers]

Pods are ripe when fully colored. I would disagree with knocking method. When they sound hollow and seeds pull away then they are over ripe. At this stage also the pulp dries out and the pods will start to blacken. BTW your second pod looks like it will be a red type.

[Finca La Isla]

The color of the pod will tell all.  The first pod is definately ready.  If I hadn't already picked one like that then the squirrels would have eaten it.  With the red pods you should also be able to see some trace of yellow when ripe.
Peter

[HMHausman]

Pods are ripe when fully colored. I would disagree with knocking method. When they sound hollow and seeds pull away then they are over ripe. At this stage also the pulp dries out and the pods will start to blacken. BTW your second pod looks like it will be a red type.

Thanks Oscar.  I thought the thumping method sounded a bit bogus. On the second fruit, red would be good, but I  think I like the ones that Noel has which are bright red from the fruit's inception.  Let's see how mine color up.

[HMHausman]

The color of the pod will tell all.  The first pod is definately ready.  If I hadn't already picked one like that then the squirrels would have eaten it.  With the red pods you should also be able to see some trace of yellow when ripe.
Peter

Thanks Peter.  I'll harvest the yellow this evening.  My squirrels are too busy eating the heck out of last few remaining Monroe avocados to spend any time on my cacao pods.  That may change when they run out of avocado to eat.  Thanks for the heads up.

[fruitlovers]

Pods are ripe when fully colored. I would disagree with knocking method. When they sound hollow and seeds pull away then they are over ripe. At this stage also the pulp dries out and the pods will start to blacken. BTW your second pod looks like it will be a red type.

Thanks Oscar.  I thought the thumping method sounded a bit bogus. On the second fruit, red would be good, but I  think I like the ones that Noel has which are bright red from the fruit's inception.  Let's see how mine color up.

I think i detect some reddish streaks already on your second cacao photo? 

[HMHausman]

I think i detect some reddish streaks already on your second cacao photo?

Yes, there is a definite red blush down the length of the otherwise green skinned fruit.  Funny, there is a larger fruit on the same tree.  It was much earlier in development and endured more cold than the other fruits.  It hasn't developed quite as much blush as these younger fruits. It also hasn't gotten any larger, seemingly in quite a while.  I wonder if it is mature.  Maybe I'll pick it just to get some baseline on maturity for the fruit of this particular tree.