Cultivating Your Own Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide
Do you enjoy the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee every morning? If you do, have you ever thought about growing your own coffee trees right at home? If that sounds intriguing, you're in the right place. This article will take you on an enlightening journey about coffee as a plant, offering practical tips for growing your own coffee tree at home, as well as providing information about different coffee varieties. Let's dive in!
Understanding Coffee as a Plant
The coffee plant, scientifically known as Coffea, is a flowering shrub that produces the beloved coffee beans. Native to tropical regions of Africa, the plant belongs to the Rubiaceae family. The two primary species cultivated for coffee production are Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee).
What is a Coffee Tree?
A coffee tree, or more accurately a shrub, is a tropical plant from the Rubiaceae family. It produces white flowers that, following blossoming, transform into coffee cherries. The coffee beans we all know and love are contained within these cherries.
When grown at home, it can only be cultivated in pots or containers. Despite this potential limitation, it can still make a perfect indoor plant! Even if it doesn't flower, its oval leaves with a glossy green hue make it a decorative plant for our homes.
When to Grow Coffee
The germination power of coffee seeds decreases over time:
- 95% if they are stored for less than 3 months,
- 75% after 3 months,
- 25% after 9 months,
- and becomes non-existent after 15 months.
Storing your coffee seeds at 15 °C in vacuum-sealed bags can extend the maximum germination power up to 6 months.
Steps for Growing Coffee at Home with Coffee Seeds
Obtain Coffee Seeds
Garden centers or specialized online stores will have coffee seeds ideal for starting your home coffee plant. However, you have to decide which coffee variety you wish to grow. Two choices will then be available to you: the Coffea arabica (Arabian coffee tree) or canephora (Arabusta).
Plant and Sow Coffee Seeds
- Soak the coffee seeds in water for 24 hours.
- After the day has passed, fill a pot with regular potting soil and bury the seeds about 1 cm deep (one or more seeds per pot).
- Place your seeds in a warm place, then at room temperature.
Steps for Growing Coffee at Home with Coffee Cherries
If you are lucky, your local coffee roaster may also provide you with coffee cherries. Here's how to proceed.
Obtain Coffee Cherries
You can directly talk to your coffee roaster to get coffee cherries. Another solution: some garden centers, particularly online, might also offer them. Participatory gardening sites can also help you procure them.
Prepare the Coffee Cherries for Cultivation
You will need to open your coffee cherries. Remove the skin, pulp, mucilage, and parchment, leaving only the coffee beans visible.
Plant the Coffee Beans
To plant your beans coming from your coffee cherries, you can try different techniques:
- Plant your coffee beans directly in soil
- Soak your coffee beans in water for 24 hours before planting them in the soil.
- Fill a pot with regular potting soil and bury the seeds about 1 cm deep (one or more seeds per pot).
- Place your seeds in a warm place, then at room temperature.
Our Advice for Growing Coffee
Which Pot to Use for Planting Your Coffee Tree?
Various pots are available on the market, such as terracotta or plastic ones. The material of the pot has no impact on the cultivation of your coffee tree. The key element is its capacity.
We recommend using a pot that is taller than it is wide and has holes at the bottom. This will allow the water to drain effectively when you water it.
Furthermore, you should place clay balls at the bottom of your pot. This will facilitate drainage for successful coffee tree cultivation.
Which Exposure for Your Coffee Tree?
For growth, the coffee tree needs to be exposed to very strong light. However, be careful with the scorching sun passing through your window. We advise you to cover your windows during the hottest hours.
On the other hand, you can also grow it in a bright room, but without direct sunlight.
Moreover, the coffee tree is very sensitive to drafts, so avoid them.
What Temperature for Your Coffee Tree?
This tree requires a constant temperature between 18 and 25 °C. The coffee tree must first be planted in a warm place, before being placed at room temperature.
Exposed to a temperature below 13 °C, it risks losing its leaves quickly.
In Which Types of Soil to Plant Your Coffee Tree?
The coffee tree can be planted in regular potting soil.
If you want to repot your coffee tree, use acidic potting soil.
When Should It Be Watered?
Its growth period is from April to September. During this period, make sure the potting soil stays moist but not soaked. For this, just put your pot in a saucer filled with clay balls. Then, pour water into the saucer to ensure good humidity!
Afterwards, the rest period lasts from October to March. During this time, you only need to water it once a week. This will be more than enough!
Should Fertilizer Be Given to Grow Your Coffee Tree?
The coffee tree is a plant that is hungry for fertilizer.
You can use it from April to September-October. Prefer liquid fertilizer every two weeks.
Should the Coffee Tree Be Pruned?
You may not know it, but if you let your coffee tree grow, it can reach up to 10 meters high! Hence the need to prune your coffee tree.
You can cut the top of the tree or prune the ends at the end of spring or early summer to limit its vertical development and encourage it to develop lateral branches.
When and How to Repot Your Coffee Tree?
Your coffee tree can be repotted every year or every two years. Be careful, you must repot it taking into account its size. Plus, you will need to use acidic potting soil.
If it has grown a lot, you may have trouble repotting it. If you are in this case, you just need to do a resurfacing. You will then have to remove the substrate about ten centimeters and add new potting soil.
Final Words: How Will Your Coffee Tree Grow?
Initially, when your seed is sown, it will take 3 to 4 weeks to germinate.
Then, 3 or 4 weeks later, the roots will appear and then a stem covered at its top with parchment.
Subsequently, after 10 to 12 weeks, the parchment will fall. Indeed, it will give way to leaves that form in opposite pairs and are dark green in color.
The first cherries will only appear after about 3 to 5 years. This depends on the growing conditions of your coffee tree.
When does the coffee tree bloom?
In nature, the coffee tree blooms after the rain. Then, it takes 6 to 9 months for the fruits to mature and be harvested.
Note: if the first rain is discontinuous, the fruits will not ripen at the same speed.
This is why on the same branch of the coffee tree, you can find red cherries and green cherries. In addition, this requires careful manual picking in several passages to collect all the ripe cherries.
Growing your coffee tree at home: it's possible! By taking into account different elements and the steps indicated above, you will be able to grow your own coffee at home. For more information on coffee, its terroir, roasting, or its varieties, discover our ultimate guide.
So, are you ready to embark on this exciting journey of growing your coffee tree at home? With a little patience and care, you could be savoring a cup of coffee brewed from beans from your own coffee tree. Happy gardening!