Coffee: Indoor Cultivation

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

What does an avid coffee lover need to be completely happy? Many will agree that there are only three things: always have at hand a pack of a fragrant drink, a topiary covered with coffee beans in the kitchen and … a real coffee tree in a pot. Do you want to make such an original gift? So plant some coffee beans

Features of growing a coffee tree

For growing indoors, low varieties are considered the most suitable. The best choice is Arabica. Under natural conditions, it reaches a height of up to 5 m, the root penetrates to a depth of 3 m. But indoors, the tree rarely becomes higher than 2.5 m.

The coffee tree has a very interesting arrangement of shoots - they grow around the circumference of the trunk or in pairs opposite each other and have a horizontal direction. By this structure, coffee resembles a Christmas tree, especially when the twigs are densely covered with green fruits.

Buds are formed on annual shoots. The ripening period lasts for a whole year. In the meantime, new flowers may bloom again on the tops of annual shoots. One tree brings about 0.5 kg of grain yield per year.

Coffee trees are propagated by cuttings, grafting and sowing seeds. In the latter case, it preserves varietal characteristics quite well, but there are exceptions. Begins to bear fruit in the third year after planting.

Planting coffee seeds

You will need raw coffee seeds to reproduce. They have a light bluish-gray, yellowish or light green hue, and a dark brown color is acquired during the roasting process. It is recommended to use fresh planting material, as it quickly loses its germination capacity. The shelf life is less than 1 year. Sowing is started in winter.

The day before planting, the seeds are soaked in warm water. Then leave for germination. This takes up to two weeks. It will go faster if you remove the skin from the seeds. Place the seeds flat side up.

For planting, prepare the following soil mixture:

• sod land - 4 parts;

• humus - 4 hours;

• perlite - 1 tsp.

At the bottom of the container for planting, a drainage layer is made of small pieces of brick; coarse sand is suitable.

When sowing is carried out without germination, the following substrate is made for the seeds:

• sod land - 1 hour;

• deciduous land - 1 hour;

• sand - 1 tsp.

In this case, the grains must be placed in the soil with the flat side down. Sowing is carried out to a depth of about 2 cm. The crops are covered with a substrate, it is recommended to mulch with peat or charcoal.

Crop care consists in abundant watering with warm water. Moisturizing is carried out twice a week. Until shoots appear, the container is kept under glass in a warm place. It is desirable for the soil to warm up to + 30 ° C. This can be achieved by placing a box near heating radiators, stoves.

Seedlings appear on the soil surface after a month and a half from the day of sowing. After the appearance of a pair of true leaves, a pick is carried out. The optimal time for such a procedure is March-April.

For the summer period, pots with young plants can be transferred to the balcony. But you can't leave them in direct light. Once a month, future trees are fed. To do this, use an aqueous solution of poultry manure or slurry. In the first case, the raw material is diluted with water 1:20, in the second, the concentration is made stronger - 1: 5.

At 8-10 months of age, seedlings are transplanted into larger pots. The landing is done at the same depth as they grew before. The transplant is done with a lump of earth.

In the future, during winter care, the plant must be kept at a temperature not lower than + 10 ° C. The optimal microclimate is considered to be + 18… + 24 ° C on the thermometer scale. Pots are no longer left near heating sources. In the summer, it is very useful to move the pots to the open air - to the garden, to the balcony.

Tree care consists in watering as the top layer of the earth dries up. With a short day, it is recommended to carry out additional lighting - 4-5 hours from November to February. Young plants are replanted annually.

The soil mixture is made from:

• sod land - 3 hours;

• deciduous - 2 hours;

• humus - 2 hours;

• sand - 1 tsp.

The old ones need it every 4-5 years, but every year the top layer of the substrate is replaced with a fresh one.