How to grow Coffee

“Coffee has a unique, predictable growth and bearing habit that is managed by pruning to maintain good production. A new plant will produce one or more upright stems that do not fruit, but produce horizontally growing lateral stems that eventually will fruit. The laterals grow several inches in their first year, cease growth and initiate flowers in the dry season, then flower and fruit in their second year. As the one-year-old section of the lateral is fruiting, the apical bud breaks and extends the lateral vegetatively. Since only the portion of stem that grew the previous year can fruit, in successive years the bearing wood moves progressively further and further from the upright stem. Lower laterals eventually shade out, leaving the lower and central portions of the canopy devoid of leaves and fruit. The type of pruning practiced is called renewal or rejuvenation pruning, which basically constitutes cutting the entire plant back to about 18” and allowing it to re-establish a canopy of fruiting laterals. This is done every 4-7 years. Depending on grower preference, cultivar, and spacing, each tree is thinned to one, two, or several upright stems after pruning, which generally grow unchecked for another 4-7 years. If a single stem is retained, it may be tipped periodically to keep it from becoming too tall before the next pruning cycle. In multiple-stemmed trees, one or two stems may be kept for the year after pruning to provide photosythate for the new growth and bear a small crop. The stems left behind are called “lungs” or “breathers”. This is from the U. Georgia (U.S.) website.

plant 1/2-1" deep, keep soil moist and soil temperature above 70-75 Fahrenheit.

Coffee plants grown in containers ideally should be re-potted every spring into a slightly bigger container. As with many other trees to keep it manageable prune it to the desired size, slightly restrict the pot size, and root prune for best results.¹

These estimates for how long Coffee takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.

¹ houseplants.about.com/od/Tropicals/p/Coffee-Growing-Coffee-Plants.htm