How to grow a coffee plant indoors

Coffee flavor lovers or not, it is possible for everyone to take advantage of one of the many qualities of this food. We are not thinking of the aroma, but rather of the plant itself, which can prove to be a pleasant ornament among windowsills and gardens.

Growing a coffee plant is not easy, but by following some useful tips you can try to care for your own seedling. If followed carefully and lucky enough with environmental factors, you will get a result that is sure to satisfy.

Coffea arabica: plant characteristics

Not all plants are suitable for the purpose of being grown indoors. The advice is to choose Coffea Arabica, which reacts well to the mild climate of many Italian regions and, in general, also adapts well to the domestic climate. It is also useful to buy the seedling at a flower store and avoid planting, which is particularly elaborate and complex.

Let's see what kind of plant it is. Coffea belongs to the Rubiaceae family and is an evergreen plant with a shrubby habit. The leaves are deep green, oval and about 15 centimeters long, while the trunk does not exceed one and a half meters in height, at least as long as the plant is grown in pots and indoors. The stems are generally quite slender, while the flowers are white, star-shaped and generally give off a very pleasant sweet scent.

Coffea arabica, as its name reminds us, is not a typically European plant; on the contrary, it originated in Ethiopia and is now widespread throughout the tropical area. Of all the species, the one that is used most for coffee is the Mocha variant. This one produces very small coffee beans, but with a particularly intense aroma. Others very suitable for coffee production with the Tipica, Bourbon and Maragogype. However, to choose the one to grow at home, it is best to ask the florist for advice as well.

How to grow a coffee plant at home

The necessary premise when it comes to the cultivation of the coffee plant is that we must immediately abandon any productive ambitions. In fact, it is an ornamental plant, at least as long as it is cared for at home.

What is needed?

First, then, we need to make sure we buy a Coffea Arabica seedling and get a pot of about 25 centimeters in diameter, potting soil with peat, appropriate fertilizer and a sprayer.

Time and place of cultivation

Coffee plants generally flower towards the end of spring, but in Italy this is brought forward to March precisely for climatic reasons. The flowers, which have a typical star shape, are white in color and create a pleasant contrast with the leaves, which are large, dark and glossy.

Only the adult plant, after a few years then, also bears fruit, between late summer and autumn. The fruits, also called drupes, are round, green when unripe and red when ripe. Inside are contained two green seeds that, at the conclusion of the coffee production process, take on the classic shape and color of the beans we know.

From the point of view of storing the coffee plant, we can safely keep it outdoors during warm weather and, in general, when the outside temperature is above 22° during the day. If the thermometer, however, reads more than 30-32°, especially in the absence of humidity, the plant could be damaged: the solution in this case is to keep an eye on irrigation and remember to also spray the pot and leaves, as well as the potting soil.

Inwinter, on the other hand, it is best to keep it indoors, paying attention that it never lacks contact with sunlight.

Caring for the coffee plant

The first rule of caring for the cultivation of a coffee plant is that watering should be frequent: daily during the summer, slightly thinned during the winter, also in relation to the degree of environmental humidity. Some people recommend completing this stage not in the traditional way, but by steaming the foliage. The ideal is to employ water at room temperature and at least once a day, taking care to avoid water stagnation.

Precisely for this reason, the potting soil chosen to grow coffee in pots must meet two specific characteristics: to be draining and with a pH that tends to be acidic, between 5 and 6. Fertilization, then, is very important: for younger plants it should be repeated once a month in spring and summer, while for adult plants the frequency is reduced to once a week.

Since a healthy plant can also reach considerable heights, repotting of Coffea arabica should be scheduled once a year by changingto a pot about 2 centimeters larger in diameter. Equally, one must remember to prune the plant regularly: the goal is to maintain a tidy appearance and increase the chances of flowering and, consequently, fruiting if it is mature enough.

Plant health

Fortunately, the coffee plant effectively resists most diseases: experts report that it can sometimes be affected by mealybug and aphids, but this does not happen often.

We can, however, observe some problems with the plant that we can remedy on our own. For example, if the leaves become dull, it is possible that Coffea is exposed to too many changes in temperature and, as a result, it is necessary to move it to a location where environmental conditions are more stable.

If, on the other hand, the leaves wilt and fall off, it is likely that the plant has not received enough water. A useful suggestion to improve the type of watering is to arrange pebbles in the bottom of the pot so that, in the future, water can drain more easily.

Finally, should the leaves begin to turn yellow, even spotty, we need to pay attention to the presence of thin spider webs on the leaves and particularly on the underside. In case they are there, it is likely that Coffea has been attacked by a red spider mite, a mite that proliferates in dry environments. For this reason, the first remedy is to increase the frequency of spraying and possibly employ a specific insecticide. In addition, it is also possible to directly remove the pest if we recognize it with the naked eye.

In general, we should not be frightened of possible diseases or pests that might attack Coffea arabica, because in most cases growing the coffee plant indoors is very simple and can offer a lot of satisfaction. Were you aware of this possibility?