Growing your own coffee.
Why?
If your interest in coffee borders on the obsessive, having a coffee tree is a natural step. It helps you understand the agricultural side of the coffee industry and appreciate how much work goes into growing the plant itself. It is also fascinating to see the coffee tree flower and fruit.
Where do I get a seedling?
There are several nurseries that have coffee tree seedlings. They post them to you in a special post pack. I use daleysfruit.com.au because they have a dwarf variety of coffee tree, an arabica varietal called a red catuai. Coffee trees can grow 3-4 metres tall. The dwarf version you can grow as a pot plant. Mine is over ten years old and is about 1.5 metres high.
What climate do coffee trees like?
The key determinant here is frost. A good cold frost will kill a coffee tree. In the cold climate I live in I grow the coffee tree seedlings in a pot in a sunny spot in my laundry. They stay there all year.
For larger, older trees I have in a large pot on a trolley that I can wheel inside or outside for the different seasons. Tedious but if you leave it out one cold night that is the end of it.
What about a green house?
Yep. I tried that. I had a plastic green house which worked alright until it got really cold. A freezing overnight temperature (around -4) and I lost all of the coffee plants inside.
If you live in a coastal or frost free climate you can plant a coffee tree directly in the soil. Places like Byron Bay and Cairns have large coffee plantations and I have seen a coffee tree growing as far south as Wollongong, in the Botanical Gardens that was 4 metres tall!
I have heard of them, but not seen one, as far south as Bega.
How to care for a coffee plant?
Coffee is a tropical plant so it does like a good supply of water. I get best results from watering a little and often. A splash of water every couple of days.
Coffee plants also like good drainage so if you are growing a plant in a pot put plenty of rocks at the bottom.
How long until I get a flower and maybe some coffee beans?
Usually within about 3-5 years. You are not in this for the short haul!
The flowers look like jasmine, the trees only flower for a week or so. Then little green “pin heads” form. These eventually mature into green pods around the size of a sultana. These become red when they are ripe and ready to pick, hence the name coffee cherries.
If your hobbies include gardening and coffee then a little coffee tree project is for you!
