Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Coffee- Arabica



I have wanted to try growing coffee for a while now. No I don't expect to have any huge harvests but I wanted to try it. Coffee plants do take several years to grow and can grow very large but they can be pruned to keep them small so that is what I plan to do with mine. The plan was to keep them in the greenhouse, however, that might not work. I bought them from eBay and the seller stated that there would be 3-4 plants per pot. Mine has 9. They all, obviously, need to be re-potted. My windowsill isn't going to hold that many but I can put them outside for a several months before we have any chance of frost. My greenhouse, is small and I will have several other plants that have to go in it this year and I will also have to provide some type of heat in there this winter. I used to run a heater in it and will likely have to do that again.
Here is a site that I found particularly helpful when I looked for information on growing coffee plants:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/growingcoffee/Growing_Coffee_at_Home.html
I intended to get them transplanted this evening but it is just miserably hot and humid outside (rained again last night--yes, really!). Plus after feeding the animals and thinking about it, I still don't know what I am going to do with them all. I am thinking that even though they need full sun, our porch will be too hot right now for "seedlings" and the greenhouse still has three chickens running around in it. I feel, no I know, I am getting a bit behind on things that need doing but it is just so darn hot here. It isn't even cool inside as one of our air conditioners has decided to leak inside all over the floor and even after drilling it a new drain hole, it is still leaking and, of course, it is the big unit. Ugg. So it has to stay off until Phil can get time to look at it.
So the plan is to get up early tomorrow instead of letting myself sleep until 8:00 and see if I can't get a few things done. Time seems to be a'wastin' while I sleep. 

4 comments:

  1. Well, that certainly is a long-term investment - even more patience required than when planting asparagus! How many coffee berries would you need for a cupful, I wonder...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, but I think no more long term that starting a small fruit tree. I can wait. I don't know how many coffee beans you would need. I am still trying to get some good information on how to actually use the beans after I get some.

      Delete
  2. I want to try that next! I have a Banana plant that is supposed to produce but hasn't and I want to add a bay tree, coffee plants and indigo too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had lots of banana plants at one time. Never could get one to bloom until this year. My basjoo bloomed because it is outside and we had a very mild winter and it didn't die back. The other ones I never could get to a decent enough size to bloom. I am hoping to have better luck with the coffee.

      Delete