The genus Coffee, or Coffee tree, belongs to the Rubiaceae family. In nature, plants are common in the tropical zones of Africa and Asia, in Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The name comes from the Arabic “kahfa”, which means “exciting”.
At home, the coffee tree flower grows well, actively blooms and bears fruit. The most commonly grown tree is the Arabian (Coffea arabica).
The leaves of this species are glossy, dark green, pointed at the top, slightly wavy at the edges.
As you can see in the photo, the flowers of the coffee tree are small (up to 2 cm in diameter), white, fragrant.
Indoors, the plant flowers regularly twice a year (April-May and November). Each flower of a domestic coffee tree produces a fruit – a berry with one to three seeds (coffee beans). When ripe, the seeds gradually change color from light green to dark red or burgundy. The fruits ripen within six to seven months, so the ripening fruits and flowers can be observed on the plant at the same time.
Indoor flower care coffee tree
This plant is quite demanding on lighting, but does not tolerate direct sunlight. The optimum temperature in the spring-summer period is 18-24°C, higher temperatures (above 30°C) indoors cause the flowers and leaves to fall off. In summer, indoor flower coffee tree is desirable to take out to fresh air. In winter, it is kept at a temperature of at least 16 ° C. The plant does not withstand even a short drop in temperature below 14 ° C and suffers greatly from drafts.
Watered abundantly. The earth should always be moist, but waterlogging or overdrying of the earthy coma should be avoided.
The coffee tree is very demanding on air humidity – the plant is regularly sprayed. In rooms with dry air, a pot with a coffee tree is additionally placed on a pallet with pebbles or expanded clay filled with water. In summer, the plant is washed under a warm shower – this stimulates the growth of the tree.
During the period of active growth (April-September), they are fed with organic fertilizers every two weeks. In winter, feeding is stopped.
When caring for a flower, a coffee tree needs to pinch young shoots, this helps to enhance growth. Dried lateral shoots are removed by cutting them out at the very petiole of the covering leaf.
Young plants are transplanted annually in the spring, over four years old – once every two years or as needed, but the topsoil is replaced annually. When transplanting, carefully protect brittle roots from damage. After transplantation, the plants are placed in partial shade for two weeks and often sprayed.
Propagated by cuttings and seeds. Seeds are sown shortly after harvest, as they quickly, within one year, lose their germination. The soil mixture is prepared from light soddy, leafy soil and sand (1: 0.5: 1). Shoots appear in one and a half to two months at a temperature of at least 20 ° C. Seedlings with two pairs of true leaves dive into pots with a diameter of 5 cm.
For cuttings, shoots of last year’s growth from the middle part of the crown of a fruit-bearing coffee tree are used. The stalk is cut obliquely with two pairs of leaves. A piece of branch about 2.5 cm long is left under the lower node, which is scratched from below with a needle to stimulate root formation.
The cuttings are rooted at a temperature of 28-30 ° C in a mixture of sifted high-moor peat and perlite (1: 1). After the formation of a new pair of leaves, the cuttings are transplanted into pots with a diameter of 9-12 cm with a soil mixture of soddy soil, peat and sand (4: 2: 1) with the addition of wood ash.
On young plants in two or three years, the first flowers and fruits appear.
Of the pests of the coffee tree, the most dangerous are the spider mite, scale insect. If the optimal mode of plant maintenance is violated, leaf necrosis appears.