Are you interested in learning how to grow and care for coffee plants? This article should serve as your ultimate guide.
Coffee is one of those things we take for granted. We buy it in bags, grind it up, and brew it to our liking. We enjoy the warm beverage practically every single day, but we rarely have any idea where it comes from, or how it grows.
Well, not for any longer! In today’s article, we are going to talk about how to grow and take care of coffee plants from home. Keep on reading to learn about the wonderful Coffea arabica, and how you can enjoy another element of your favorite coffee beverage in-house!
Plant Facts
| Scientific name | Coffea arabica |
| Common names | Coffee plant, Arabian coffee |
| Family | Rubiaceae, Madder |
| Plant Type | Evergreen perennial |
| Height and Width | 6-15 ft. tall and wide |
| Origin | Ethiopia and tropical Africa |
| Flower colors | White flowers |
| Foliage color | Dark, glossy green |
| Sun Exposure | Bright, indirect sunlight |
| Soil Type & pH | Rich and moist, with pH of 6 to 6.5 |
| Special features | The flowers can have a vanilla-scented aroma; the beans are edible, but all other parts are toxic to dogs, cats and humans |
How to Grow Coffee Plants
For those of you who think that growing coffee beans means that you will be harvesting coffee beans right away, sorry, but that’s a myth.
Healthy coffee plants take upwards of three to five years to mature enough in order to produce flowers. And even after some time, the conditions need to be optimal for those flowers to be pollinated and transformed into fruit, or “coffee cherries”.
Don’t let that discourage you! Anything is possible with a little patience. Plus, you can still enjoy the looks of your coffee plant along the way, with its glossy and attractive looking green foliage.
The best way to grow C. arabica is to try and mimic the natural conditions it prefers when it grows in the wild. Coffee is native to warmer, and more humid parts of the globe. Therefore, it is happiest in those types of conditions.
Coffee is a versatile plant. It can be grown in containers indoors, or outdoors in your garden beds. If you are growing coffee for its decorative appeal, then any container that matches the aesthetic of your home will work.
If you are in it for the long haul, then growing coffee directly in the ground outdoors is probably your best bet. But it should be noted that outdoor coffee should really be only grown in warm geographic regions with mild, non-freezing winters.
Propagation
C. arabica can be propagated from cuttings or air layers. Propagating from air layers is when you root branches of the coffee plant while they are still attached to the parent plant.
A far simpler, and more common method of propagating coffee plants is by using cuttings. The best time to take cuttings for C. arabica is during the summer.
Prune off a healthy looking shoot that is between 8 to 10 inches in length with a diagonal cut. Remove all the foliage from the cutting except for the top ⅓. Dip the fresh cutting in rooting hormone and plant the cutting in a potting mix. Gently pat around the cutting to compress the soil and help it stand up straight. Lightly water the soil until it is completely moist.
Reuse a plastic bag, or plastic bottle to cover the cutting. This creates a small greenhouse for the cutting, and helps lock in humidity and warmer temperatures. Allow the cutting to establish itself and monitor its progress. After 2 to 3 months, test the new root structure by gently tugging upwards on the cutting. If there is some resistance, it’s safe to say the roots have formed and are growing happily.
Carefully uproot the cutting, and transplant it to its new home outside, or into a fresh container. And care for it like normal.
Soil
C. arabica grows best in soil that is rich and well-draining. Soil that is too dense will not drain properly, and may cause waterlogging. Coffee prefers slightly acidic soils, with a pH level ranging from 6.0 to 6.5.
If you think your plant is not thriving due to the soil, you can amend the soil with more organic matter, like peat moss, to increase the soil pH.
Pruning
When it comes to pruning, C. arabica is pretty low maintenance. Ideally, coffee plants are cut back every year during the Springtime. Pruning your coffee plant will help the foliage grow bushier, and provide more shape.
Without any pruning, it may be possible for C. arabica to grow upwards of 6 feet tall!
This may not be a big deal if you are growing outdoors, but if your coffee is inside, yearly pruning will come in handy. We recommend using clean and sharp pruning shears for the most efficient pruning, and to not injure the plant.
Repotting and Transplanting
As your coffee houseplant grows in size, you may need to replant your coffee plant into larger containers, or transplant it outside.
When repotting, it’s important to make sure that the containers have a series of drainage holes. The new container should be cleaned, and prepped with additional growing medium that is ideal for C. arabica. We recommend a well-draining soil with a 50-50 mix of peat moss and perlite.
If you are growing your coffee outside, and your location experiences cold temperatures during the winter, then you will need to move your plants inside during the colder months. Normally, from October to March coffee plants go into a hibernating dormant stage of living.
How to Care for Coffee Plants
Coffee is a fun plant to grow, and is ideal for bringing a light, airy and tropical feel to whatever space they are grown in. If you are curious about bringing C. arabicat into your home, have a look at the following growing guidelines in order to get the best results.
Water
Coffee plants are heavy drinkers. They enjoy regular and deep watering. The soil for C. arabica should always remain moist, but never waterlogged. We recommend that you never allow the soil of your C. arabica to completely dry out.
During the hotter months of the year, as opposed to the winter, it may be necessary to water more often. Keep an eye on the dryness of your soil. If necessary, you can poke the top ⅓ of your finger into the soil to check for moisture. If the top layer feels dry, it may be time for more water.
Sunlight
In the wild, C. arabica is an understory plant. In other words, they are happiest underneath a canopy of other, taller plants.
So to mimic those natural conditions, it’s best to grow coffee in dappled, indirect light.
They do not thrive in direct, harsh sunlight. Coffee plants that are exposed to too much direct sunlight will begin to brown in their foliage.
Temperature and Humidity
Because C. arabica is native to warmer, tropical environments, they are best grown in daytime temperatures ranging from 70 to 80 degrees fahrenheit, and nighttime temperatures of around 65 to 70 degrees.
C. arabica thrives in humid environments. A humidity level of at least 50% or higher will work to keep C. arabica happy. If you notice your plants are dry and browning, you can mist the plant daily in order to raise the humidity level.
Another strategy you can use to raise the humidity level is to place your C. arabica container on top of a separate shallow tray containing water and a thin layer of pebbles. Overtime, the water will evaporate upwards adding more moisture to the air around the plant.
Fertilizer
You can fertilize with standard house plant liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks throughout the growing season. We recommend that you dilute the liquid fertilizer to half strength.
During the colder, winter months, we recommend that you cut back the fertilizing to once a month, or pause fertilizing completely.
As you fertilize throughout the growing months, it will be important to monitor the growth of your C. arabica. To avoid issues caused by root-bounding, you may need to repot your C. arabica into larger containers.
Pest and Diseases
C. arabica can be susceptible to aphids, mites and mealybugs. Signs of infestation may include:
- Tiny webs
- Clumps of white residue
- Visible insects on the plant itself
You can naturally treat infestations of these sorts of pests with routine spraying of neem oil. After the infestation has been taken care of, you can continue to prevent future infestations with continual neem oil treatments.
Pests sometimes take hold of your plants due to a stale and muggy environment. To prevent more pests in the future, you can also consider relocating your C. arabicato somewhere it can get more airflow.
There are also a few diseases to watch out for.
Leaf Fall
It is normal for your indoor coffee plant to drop leaves from time to time. But if you are noticing a higher volume of falling leaves, something could be wrong. Most of the time, fluctuating temperatures of cold and hot can cause leaf fall.
Consider the location of your coffee plant, and try to avoid areas that receive cold drafts, or hot sun exposure. Overly wet soil can also cause leaves to drop as well.
Leaf Stains and Discoloration
Too much sun can cause browning and burning on the leaves of C. arabica.
Yellow stains on the leaves may be a sign of a nutritional deficiency. This can easily be solved by consulting your local nursery and applying the correct fertilizer.
Root Rot
Root rot is a common fungal disease that occurs as a result of too much moisture in the soil and not enough drainage. So either you were watering too much, or your soil is too dense and not draining properly. And sometimes, it’s a combination of the two.
If you suspect C. arabica is struggling with root rot, we recommend you pull the plant up, and repot it into a new container with fresh soil. If you are going this route, make sure to trim off any dead or rotten roots before replanting.
Common Varieties and Cultivars
The family coffea encompasses roughly 120 different species of coffee plants. However, there are generally four common varieties and different species that are best for growing at home.
- Coffea liberica: this variety is native to central and western Africa, and was first discovered in Liberia, hence its name. It produces large fruits, whose beans contain more caffeine than arabica beans, but less than robusta beans.
- Coffea canephora: this variety of coffee comes from sub-Saharan Africa, and is more commonly known as robusta. The plant foliage themselves are robust, however, the coffee beans tend to be less common than arabica due to their harsher taste.
- Coffea arabica ‘Nana’: the Nana is an arabica dwarf variety of the coffee plant. Because it only grows around 12 inches tall, it is ideal for cultivation indoors, or in a small garden.
- Coffea eugenioides: this coffee variety originated in east Africa, and its beans normally have a lower caffeine content than the others listed above.
Conclusion
Coffee is a wonderful thing. It’s enjoyed in many different styles, all over the world, and for good reason! So if you are a coffee fan, and just so happen to have a green thumb also, then why not combine your enjoyment of the drink with your passion for gardening?
Whether you are a beginner gardener or a seasoned veteran, growing coffee can be a fun challenge. Consult your local nursery, pick out a variety, and follow the coffee plant care plan described above.
For more indoor plants to grow, check this list of common indoor plants.
*image by porosolka_balt/depositphotos
