Growing a coffee plant is not just a hobby but also an excellent contribution to your garden at home or within your house. With its shiny dark leaves, the white fragrant flowers, and the colored cherries, coffee offers both beauty and suspense to your choice of plants.
The best coffee for gardeners at home is Arabica Coffee. It is less efficient, grows in cooler weather, and is less hard to deal with in pots. Robusta coffee has a bitter flavor and is suitable for commercial plantations. Arabica grows very long and the best suited for small spaces like your living room, kitchen window, or covered balcony.
Whether you are a keen gardener or simply an avid coffee drinker, this blog post will demonstrate precisely how you can plant, grow, and tend coffee plants in a straightforward-to-understand and accessible manner.
Preparing the Soil and Garden Space
If planting outside, soil and making space available is crucial. The coffee plants require slightly acidic soils with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 6.5. Loamy well-drained soil with excellent organic matter is best. Add compact, decomposed leaves or aged manure to mix in to enhance texture and nutrients.
Select a location to receive morning sun and afternoon shade. Steer clear of areas with direct, forceful wind or full sun all day. Coffee bushes prefer moisture and partially shaded space, as they are in rainforest environments. A bright but filtered light source is best indoors, such as a south window with curtains.
7 Steps to Successfully Plant a Coffee Tree
You don’t require a farm or greenhouse. Coffee can be cultivated in pots on a windowsill, balcony, or small patio. Just try these 7 easy steps to begin:
Step 1: Germinate the Seeds
- Employ green, raw coffee beans.
- Soak them in water for 24 hours.
- Roll up in a wet paper towel, place inside a plastic bag, and keep in a warm, dark place.
- Germination should happen in 1–2 months, so have patience.
Step 2: Select the Appropriate Container
- Plant it in a pot with holes.
- Fill the container with a combination of peat moss, perlite, and compost.
- Coffee roots are shallow and tiny so that a big pot will do.
Step 3: Plant Sprouted Seed
- Plant the seed root-end down, ½ inch deep, in the potting mix.
- Water lightly and cover until moist (not waterlogged).
Step 4: Find the Ideal Spot
- Position the pot in an area that receives bright, indirect light.
- Avoid placing it directly in the sun or darkness.
Step 5: Water Often
- Water when the soil’s surface is dry.
- Avoid letting the plant stand in water, root rot is a definite threat.
Step 6: Feed and Trim
- Fertilize monthly when growing (spring-summer) with a balanced fertilizer.
- Trim lightly to promote air circulation and to maintain plant form.
Step 7: Wait and Watch
- In 3–4 years, your plant will flower with jasmine-like white blossoms.
- Cherries are what flowers develop into, which in turn become coffee beans!
How to Care for a Coffee Plant at Home?
Coffee plants prefer consistent conditions. Maintain the temperature between 60°F to 75°F (15°C to 24°C) and never let it experience sudden temperature fluctuations. Coffee plants do not respond well to frost, so place them indoors during winter.
There should be high humidity at home when you are growing a coffee plant. Mist the plant everyday, put it on a stone tray, or turn on a humidifier next to the plant so the moisture levels stay high. If leaves turn brown or curl, the reason behind it can be too sunny or too dry.
Pest control is also required. Spider mites, aphids, and scale insects may attract coffee plants. Neem oil or horticultural soap can be helpful as pesticides to wash the leaves once a month.
It takes 3 to 4 years to bloom small white flowers on your plant under the right conditions. These flowers smell like jasmine and turn into green cherries, which slowly turn into bright red fruit with the beans. That is when you will know your homegrown coffee journey is paying off.
Harvesting and Roasting Your Coffee Beans
When the coffee cherries are ripe, harvest them by hand. They will be firm, deep red. Harvest them, and then remove the beans by pulping the cherries and fermenting and stripping them of the mucilage in water for 24–48 hours.
After washing and drying the beans (which may take a week or so in the sun), roast them to your taste and grind them to use. Ta-da, you now have scratch-coffee right in your very own home!
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Some novices make a couple of mistakes, but having known them makes it simple not to make them. The most frequent problem is overwatering, which normally causes root rot. Always sow in a pot with a good drainage system, and never allow the plant to stay in water.
Exposure to direct, hard sunlight is another error, and it will scorch the leaves. Keep in mind that coffee plants flower under the dappled shade of tall trees where they grow natively.
Lastly, not fertilizing and pruning regularly will create a spindly, feeble plant with a tendency toward disease. You can also source the finest coffee beans from trusted wholesale Robusta coffee bean suppliers in the market.
Conclusion
It is an amazing experience to grow a coffee plant at your home. However, you can purchase fresh beans from reliable organic coffee Arabica bean distributors. From seed growth to first bloom, every step of the way teaches your patience, consistency and care.
Moreover, you don’t have to be an expert gardener to make it. With solid soil, reasonable watering, ample light, and judicious pruning, you’ll be able to enjoy the full leaves and, ultimately, your coffee crop.
Sunrise Coffee Beans is a trusted source of offering the finest quality coffee beans at competitive rates. Contact us today to get the best offers at affordable rates without compromising on the top quality.
