Growing a Cacao Tree Indoors - Dave's Garden

tl;dnr: What it says in the title. Martin Bormann, coming out of hiding as a Paraguayan millionaire with a supposed Golden Ticket, sought entrance into Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Bormann likely assumed that he could either buy Wonka off with his wealth, and/or to try to steal Wonka's business secrets by gaining entrance to his factory.
Evidence I: Martin Bormann, Nazi and South American Millionaire
It's been confirmed that the Paraguayan millionaire who produced the Golden Ticket is, in fact, Martin Bormann, who assumed leadership of the Nazi Party after Hitler's death.
While the director claims that he meant to use Bormann's photo as a joke, especially given the claims of "Nazis fleeing to South America" after WWII. However, for the sake of this theory, and assuming that the Wonka-verse is an alternate universe from our own, that Bormann, who died shortly after Hitler in our universe, indeed managed to flee to South America successfully after WWII.
Let's say that Bormann, in the Wonka-verse, then somehow makes a fortune by going into business, becoming a millionaire by 1971, the year the events of the film, for argument's sake, take place in.
Evidence II: Why Bormann Fabricated a Golden Ticket
If Bormann is a "Paraguayan millionaire", then what Bormann made his millions in, or from? Given how Veruca Salt's father made his fortune in the peanut industry, another candy-related sector, let's assume that Bormann made his millions in none other than the cocoa, or chocolate, industry.
More specifically, Bormann likely made his fortune as one of South America's "cocoa barons".

During the late 19th and much of the 20th century, a small patch of paradise in southern Bahia, a state in Northeast Brazil, was the #1 producer of cocoa in the world. It was also the realm of Brazil’s cocoa barons.
Cacao trees were native to the Brazilian Amazon. But in the 1700s, Brazilian colonists decided to see if cacao would take to the fertile soil of the coastal region surrounding the tiny town of Ilhéus. Cacao thrives in the shade, and the native Atlantic forest – a rainforest more ancient than the Amazon – provided a natural canopy that allowed trees to reach heights of 40 feet.
In the late 1800s, spurred on by industrialization, the world’s cocoa market exploded. Adventurers from Brazil and around the world sailed, rode and even walked to Bahia’s “Cocoa Coast.” Many dreamed of making vast fortunes by planting this cash crop. For decades, precious cocoa was known as “black gold.”
Planters who grew rich from its trade became known as “cocoa barons.”
In keeping with their title, the “barons” built grand plantation estates furnished with the finest European trappings. They drove to Ilhéus in gleaming American automobiles and checked into grand hotels. They wiled away days at luxurious beach houses with names such as Praia dos Milionários (Millionnaire Beach). At night, they gambled away fortunes while drinking Champagne, and smoking cigars lit with 500,000 real bills.
On Sundays, lavishly attired cocoa baronesses went to mass at the new and opulent São Sebastião Cathedral. Meanwhile, their husbands took refuge in the nearby Bar Vesúvio. From the bar, a secret passage led to the Bataclan. In this swank “cabaret,” barons could indulge in more earthly pursuits with European call girls. The chime of church bells warned them that services were ending. That masses lasted three hours was due to an agreement between the barons and priests. Those who gave extra long sermons were handsomely rewarded. (Source)

Additionally, Bormann being a cocoa baron, while tying in with his potential motivation for fabricating the Golden Ticket (not only bringing attention to himself, but his business, as well as giving him a shot at the grand prize), also fits with his past as a particularly sadistic, anti-Semitic Nazi.
While cocoa farmers suffered, their baron bosses made millions.

...there was a lot of resentment about the wealth of the so-called cacao colonels -- the owners of large plantations -- compared to the lives of the farm workers.
"Cacao elites used to say that the best doctor in the area was Varig and Vasp, which were the two airlines that would take you out of town," said Mary Ann Mahony, a professor of history at Central Connecticut State University. "In the '80s, there was no running water, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, nothing."
[...] "[The farmers themselves] were very poor," Aquino recalled. "They wouldn't know how to read and write." Mahony recalled seeing payroll sheets from the 1970s, where workers "were signing with their fingerprint, because they were illiterate."
Novelist Jorge Amado describes the scene aptly in his book, The Golden Harvest. Ilheus is "a city of money and cabarets, of dauntless courage and dirty deals."
And on the cacao plantations, "the cacao fields are the work, the home, the garden, the cinema, often the cemetery of the workers. The enormous feet of the hired hands look like roots, bearing no resemblance to anything else. The visgo of cacao sticks to their feet and never comes off, making them like the bark of the trunk, while malaria gives them the yellow color of nearly ripe pods, ready for picking."
"There were slaves that worked in cacao," Mahony summarized. "Most of the people who worked for [the cacao colonels] lived in illiteracy and darkness."
[...] "It's related to being bad or not. The employer had the right to take from the employee clothes, food, house," Aquino recalled. "The minimum wage was so little." Many employers took advantage of this system. (Source)

Additionally, agriculture in Paraguay, unlike in Brazil, was just having the start of its expansion in 1971.

Growth in agriculture was very rapid from the early 1970s to the early 1980s, a period when cotton and soybean prices soared and cropland under cultivation expanded as a result of agricultural colonization.
Growth in agriculture slowed from an average of 7.5% annual growth in the 1970s, to approximately 3.5% in the mid-to-late 1980s. (Wikipedia)

Evidence III: Wonka's Awareness / Planting Spies
It's well-known, even within the movie itself, that Willy Wonka himself was not only aware of the potential consequences and implications of his Golden Ticket event, but that he kept his desired outcomes fully, tightly controlled.
This is evidenced by his use of one of his employees, Wilkinson, as an actor for "Slugworth" to tempt the children with money; as well as the "convenient" locations [and winners] of all five of the true Golden Tickets, among other pieces of evidence, as seen in this theory here, as well as one here.
It's quite obvious that the entire purpose of Wonka holding the Golden Ticket event to begin with was to find a worthy heir and successor, one he could bestow his chocolate factory onto. Enter Martin Bormann, South American cocoa baron millionaire, who, like everyone else, hears of Wonka's Golden Ticket sweepstakes.
Bormann, also a mega-weathy businessman, and one clearly who built his millions over the years, likely also did what Wonka did: send out spies, or "feelers", to research Wonka, and gather as much information as possible on Wonka and his factory.
It's even quite plausible that Bormann, if a giant in the cocoa / chocolate industry, may have been one of Wonka's direct rivals...or, as a major cocoa seller and supplier, "played the field" among chocolate and candy makers, or sought to be one of the ones to steal Wonka's secrets. Bormann may have even sought to steal Wonka's secrets to purposefully distribute among other chocolate makers, as competition often helps drive additional profits...and more chocolate makers means more clients to buy Bormann's cocoa, and more money for Bormann.
Indeed, Grandpa Joe, who used to work for Wonka in the 2005 adaptation, also has this exchange with Wonka:

Grandpa Joe: Mr. Wonka, I don't know if you remember me, but I used to work here in the factory.
Willy Wonka: Were you one of those despicable spies who everyday tried to steal my life's work, and sell it to those parasitic, copy-cat candy-making cads?
Grandpa Joe: No, sir.
Willy Wonka: Wonderful, welcome back.

This follows the book as well:

Years before Charlie had his visit to the factory, Willy Wonka ran his candy business with regular workers, not "little funny colored people." But because Willy Wonka was the greatest candy maker in the land, his enemies sent spies into his factory, stole his ideas, and recreated his greatest candy creations.
This produced overwhelming paranoia in Mr. Wonka. His solution? Fire all his workers and shut down his factory. In fact, it's revealed in the first movie that Grandpa Joe used to work in Wonka's factory and was one of the unlucky workers let go (an addition from the story in the original book).
So, rather than develop a security solution or management solution to deal with these spies, like a sane person would, Willy Wonka fired his entire workforce. In the case of Charlie's parents, the Buckets, and probably numerous other families who relied on those jobs for their livelihood, it pushed them into poverty.
The degree of misery caused by Wonka's decision never made it into the story. Although we hear nothing about the town where the factory resides, it's probable that the city, or at the very least the neighborhood, was decimated by that decision. Yet, instead of being thought of as a villain, Willy Wonka is considered a hero. He's the creative genius who just wasn't allowed to be free to be himself and do his thing. (Source)

Given this addition, there's a few things that stand out to me: one, that Wonka was clearly so upset, and so angry, at discovering the spies at his factory, or at his wit's end, that he fired everyone; and two, that he did so in a way that implies that, instead of viewing his employees as people, he viewed them as servants, or even slaves...ones that he could dismiss at a moment's notice.
To this end, in both the 1971 and 2005 adaptations, Wonka doesn't seem to develop more perspective for how badly he treated his former workers and employees (Grandpa Joe and the Bucket family included) until he discovers, and "adopts", the Ooma Loompas. With the Oompa Loompas, Wonka seems to learn how to treat others with compassion, giving the Oompa Loompas a safe haven and home, and voicing his feelings of pity and sympathy for their plight.
Wonka's previous, callous attitude towards his workers and employees, especially given the poor treatment of South America's "cocoa barons" towards their farmers, to me, points to Bormann and Wonka having had a previous, close relationship / business partnership, perhaps even a friendship. This is especially true, given that Wonka would be several decades younger than Bormann (Gene Wilder was 37-38 years old when he filmed his role as Wonka; by 1971, Bormann would have been around 71 years old, with a birth year of 1900).
Bormann likely provided, and sold, South American cocoa initially (exclusively) to Wonka as part of a business partnership, and likely even helped Wonka grow his chocolate empire and business (as Wonka selling more chocolate meant more cocoa profits / sales for Bormann)...before ultimately Bormann got greedy, sending spies to Wonka's factory, and also supporting and selling to other chocolate and candy makers, like Slugworth.
Additionally, Bormann, being an older millionaire, may have even provided the initial investment, or money, to Wonka to build his chocolate factory, and start his business empire, to begin with.
This also explains how, and why, Wonka previously saw it as "more than acceptable" to fire all of his workers at once, and seemingly, close his factory: he learned it from Bormann. Feeling utterly betrayed by his own cocoa provider and business partner, Wonka lashed out, utterly withdrawing from the public eye...but he never forgot what Bormann, and his enemies and rivals, did.
Indeed, Wonka, with his idea for the Golden Tickets, and after what happened to him with the spies incident, directly anticipated his enemies and rivals trying to, once again, steal his secrets. This is evidenced in the film when Wonka pays Wilkinson to pose as Slugworth, offering a "test" to each of the children, to see which one of the kids would be able to withstand temptation and manipulation from corrupt, greedy businessmen. Indeed, Slugworth "whispering" into each child's ear seems to mirror the plausible recreation, or echo, of Bormann (or another greedy buisnessman) having "whispered" into a young Wonka's ear, tempting and offering him money.
However, there was one thing that Wonka did not take into account: that Bormann would try other cunning, sneaky methods to try and gain access to Wonka's factory...or that his sweepstakes actually didn't prevent a rival businessman from obtaining a Golden Ticket.
Evidence IV: The "Fake" Golden Ticket
From the film, we know that Bormann supposedly fabricated the "fifth Golden Ticket". Yet that Golden Ticket was somehow "proven to be fake".
I see two potential options for what actually happened, or may have happened:

Bormann, indeed, fabricated the Golden Ticket. However, Wilkinson, posing as Slugworth, approaches Bormann, and sees that the ticket is fake, or another employee of Wonka's claims it's fake...or Wonka himself leaks, or announces, that the Ticket is a "fake", as he knows the location of the last Golden Ticket, and it's not in Paraguay, but the UK.
Bormann, like Veruca Salt's father, paid his employees to find him the Golden Ticket. Thus, his Golden Ticket was real, but because Bormann was an adult, as well as a millionaire (along with the other speculation I mentioned above), Wonka, or his representative(s), claimed that Bormann's Ticket was a fake. [According to the original drafts of the book, Wonka also sent out seven (7), not five (5), Golden Tickets, which would also explain this; Wonka may have quietly produced 1-2 more Golden Tickets, in case of scenarios like this.] Or Wonka stole or confiscated Bormann's Ticket, claimed it as a fake, and then resent it out, this time to its "intended target", Charlie Bucket.

Plant your cacao seedling in a spacious pot with a well-drained soil mixture. Once it’s planted, find a warm spot that stays between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit and gets indirect sunlight. You can create a humid environment by putting a humidifier near your cacao seedling. Or, you can bring your cacao plant in the bathroom every time you shower. Spritz your cacao plant with water a few times a day to keep it moist and fertilize it every 2-6 weeks. Cacao trees are evergreen, maintaining their foliage year-round. The leaves are a glossy medium green color in an oblong shape that reaches between 4 and 8 inches long. Tiny, fragrant flowers appear throughout the year directly on the tree trunk and branches. Then, the coveted seed pods arise, which are up to 12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. Okay, so I was thinking about trading for some chocolate tree seeds, because I've heard that they germinate easily. In your experience, is this a difficult tree to grow indoors (not fruit, just grow. We'll cross that bridge later lol Like most of the tropical fruits, cacao (the plant that gives us chocolate) is a novelty indoors. In its native environment, cacao thrives in very humid, but not necessarily very hot, sub-tropical and tropical conditions. It grows into a relatively small (about 20-25 feet) tree with deeply gnarled bark and a sometimes twisting trunk. Cacao is used in all kinds of savory sauces and sweet treats, and the plant it comes from is native to Mexico, Central, and South America. Nowadays, cacao is more commonly referred to as cocoa: the official word for the powdery substance created from the beans inside cacao tree seed pods. And with a multi-billion dollar industry riding on these pods, the prospect of growing them in your own home seems even more exciting. The cacao tree has about 20 relatives that fall under the Theobroma genus of trees that do not produce cacao beans but they do flower and produce fruits used for medicinal purposes. In some cases, such as the mocambo, the seeds are edible. 23. Theobromine is an organic compound found in cacao that has behavioral effects similar to caffeine and is also found in tea and cola. 24. The top cacao Once you’ve got healthy cacao trees, either by germinating your own cacao pods or by starting with a live cacao tree, all you have left to do is wait. In nature, cacao trees are a zone 10 plant, so they want to be kept warm, but room temperature, keeping them consistently between 65 and 70 degrees is sufficient for them to thrive. Click this article to find out about growing cacao trees and other cocoa tree info. Load More. Join Us -Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Join. Ask A Pro. Ask a Question. Newest Articles. Cacti & Succulents Nestled Pots For Succulents – Nestling Succulent Containers Cacti & Succulents What Is A Crinkle Leaf Plant - Crinkle Leaf Houseplant Info Cacti & Succulents Kokedama Keep reading to find out about growing cacao trees and other cocoa tree info. Cacao Plant Info. Cocoa beans come from cacao trees, which reside in the genus Theobroma and originated millions of years ago in South America, east of the Andes. There are 22 species of Theobroma amongst which T. cacao is the most common. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Mayan people drank cacao as early as 400 B.C. The Aztecs prized the bean as well. In nature, cacao trees are a zone 10 plant, so they want to be kept warm, but room temperature, keeping them consistently between 65 and 70 degrees is sufficient for them to thrive. They’re an under story plant, so filtered light indoors is actually ideal, and they grow wonderfully even in northern climates near a south facing window or in a sun room.

Growing a Cacao Tree Indoors - Dave's Garden

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Who else is obsessed with the indoor plants? My island is covered in cypress plants and cacao trees cos they’re pretty and I have no creativity lol

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[Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory] Martin Bormann, the head of the Nazi Party after Hitler's death, was the Paraguayan millionaire who fabricated the fake Golden Ticket. He did so to try and steal Wonka's business secrets.

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