Knowing my love for growing exotic fruit plants, three years ago my friends brought me a small stalk and coffee seeds. And my experiment began.
We grow a coffee tree from seeds
I washed the seeds peeled from the pulp in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. In the boxes at a height of 5-8 cm, a loose substrate of sod earth, leaf humus and sand was filled in. The seeds were placed flat on top of the soil, watered and covered with glass. The box with the crops was kept at a temperature of +20…+28°C. After 8 weeks, the seeds sprang up. When two real leaves appeared, I planted the plants in separate pots.
We grow a coffee tree from a cuttings
With the cuttings it was more difficult — root formation lasted 4 months. First, the stalk was held in a root formation stimulator. Then planted in a mixture of perlite and sifted peat, the stalk was buried in the substrate half. After landing, I spilled it with a dilute solution of potassium permanganate and built a so-called mini-greenhouse in the pot.
The pot of coffee was placed in a bright place protected from direct sunlight and maintained a stable high temperature (optimally +25…+27°C). The created mini-greenhouse was regularly aired by spraying the coffee stalk.
The care of coffee trees
Further care of the coffee tree is not much different from the standard care of any other houseplant. Coffee likes a lot of light, but not direct rays, but scattered ones. The coffee tree also prefers moist air. To maintain a sufficient level of humidity, use a humidifier, a tray of water, or regular spraying. With a lack of moisture, the tips of the leaves begin to dry out and curl. I also regularly cleaned the leaves from dust.
I watered the plant as needed. The soil in the pot should always be slightly moist, but not muddy and not dry. In the summer, I watered more often, with soft water at room temperature. In winter, watering was reduced, but still periodically moistened the soil so that it does not dry out.
In spring and summer, when there is a period of active growth and flowering, coffee needs fertilizing. During this period, the plant was fertilized every 2 weeks, using a complex mineral fertilizer. From the second half of autumn until the following spring, their introduction stopped.