General description of the coffee tree, conditions for growing coffee, transplanting, feeding and reproduction, combating diseases and pests, facts to note, species. Coffee (Coffea) is also called the Coffee tree, its scientific botanical community has ranked it among the evergreens belonging to the tribe Coffee (Cofeeae) and included in the family Rubiaceae. Basically, this representative of the flora grows in the wild on the territory of the African continent and Asia, where a tropical climate prevails, and there they are also engaged in the cultivation of coffee plantations everywhere. However, the real homeland of coffee is considered to be the lands of Ethiopia, from where this plant and, naturally, a drink from it, began its journey around the world. First, he got to Iran, and only then to the states of Europe. In total, you can count up to 90 varieties of the coffee family with aromatic fruits - seeds that people are used to calling grains.
Most of the varieties of coffee are large shrubs or small trees, the height of which rarely exceeds 8 m. If we talk about indoor cultivation, then it is worth using only shrub representatives of this genus. The leaf plates of a coffee tree are usually large in size, their surface is leathery, the color is rich green. It is for this green leafy mass that coffee trees are valued when grown at home. Since the bush form quickly grows in height and width, they are successfully grown indoors. Of all the known varieties, it is the undersized varieties of arabica that have such characteristics, but robusta simply does not fit in the rooms. Such a Arabica plant can be formed in the form of a real tree with a lignified stem and a beautifully designed crown.
In the process of flowering, small buds are formed on the plant, which have white petals with a strong tropical aroma. From them, inflorescences are collected in the form of a false umbrella, resembling a bunch. Buds usually grow on annual shoots and in the inflorescence they can be counted from 8 to 16 units. Each flower contains both male and female reproductive organs - these are stamens and pistils, and thanks to this content, the coffee tree is able to self-pollinate. And again, since Arabica is capable of such self-pollination, it is recommended to cultivate it indoors, since a cross process is necessary for Robusta.
After flowering, the most important thing ripens, for which coffee is bred - seeds. Ripening of berries takes 3-4 months. When the ripening process is complete, the fruits are ellipsoidal berries, painted in a bright red or burgundy color. Inside the fruit, there are from one to three grains. Each berry has such a short pedicel that it seems to be sedentary right on the shoot. The peel of the fruit is hard and dense. The seeds are surrounded by pulp with a sweet and sour taste, the color of the seed material is predominantly yellowish green with a grayish tint, before it is processed. The length of the seed can vary between 8-13 mm. And even in indoor growing conditions, you can pamper yourself with freshly harvested coffee beans.
Coffee trees bear fruit in the third year from planting, but the most abundant harvest can be obtained only in the 6-7 year of cultivation. But it is still preferable to greenhouse or greenhouse cultivation of coffee.
Agricultural technology for growing coffee at home
- Lighting for a coffee tree, it should be good, but diffused, since direct sunlight will harm the foliage. Therefore, the side on which the pot of coffee will be placed can have an east, west, southeast, or southwest location. But on the southern orientation of the windows, you will have to arrange a small shadow with light curtains or curtains. In the summer, you can take the plant out into fresh air, but at the same time take care of the right level of light. However, such movements are not at all like the plant, although they have an excellent effect on the condition of the crown, but there will not be many flowers and fruits.
- Growing temperature coffee should be kept constant throughout the year within a range of no higher than 25 degrees, and only in the autumn-winter period it is gradually lowered to 15-16 units and not lower.
- Air humidity. The plant loves moisture with sufficient parameters. That is, on hot summer days, you can arrange warm showers for the coffee tree, but not during the flowering period. The same is true when heating devices are in operation in winter. When the plants are still young, they need to be sprayed with soft and warm water with a spray bottle to increase the activation of growth every 2-3 days (in the heat, every day).
- Watering the coffee tree carried out regularly, but, like many plants, it does not like the gulf of the substrate, however, drying the soil in a pot cannot be allowed - this is still a tropical representative of the flora. In the summer, the soil should be moistened 2-3 times a week, and with the arrival of autumn and winter, this procedure will only be required once every 7 days. Water is used only soft and warm, slightly above room temperature - 23-26 degrees.
- Fertilizers for coffee are introduced in the form of mineral and organic preparations. Most often, the plant is fertilized in the spring and summer. Top dressing is alternated. When the deciduous mass is growing, it is recommended to use preparations with a high nitrogen content. During the flowering period, a full mineral complex should be used, and phosphorus is needed for the ripening of fruits. With the arrival of autumn and all winter, the coffee tree is not disturbed with fertilizers. Some growers advise using plant food for plants from the pink family. Coffee also responds wonderfully to the introduction of dry mullein to the surface of the soil in a pot. If cross-pollination is required, then due to the lack of bees in the house and the wind, they do it manually. At the same time, the flowers are easily shaken or they are driven along the inflorescences with a soft bristle brush.
- Transplanting a coffee tree. For several years in a row, transplants for coffee are needed annually, as soon as spring comes, but the plant has not yet begun to actively develop. For adult specimens, the pot is changed once every 2-3 years. Since the root system has sufficiently developed volumes, the pot must be appropriate, the diameter of the container is increased by 2-4 cm. A drainage layer is poured onto the bottom.
- Substrate used for tropical plants. The acidity of the soil is low, and it should also be rich in phosphorus and organic matter. You can mix garden soil, peat, humus soil and coarse sand (equal proportions). A handful of wood ash is also poured there for balance.
If the coffee tree is very elongated, then it is only then pruned.
How to properly propagate a coffee tree?
You can get a new plant with coffee beans by sowing seeds or cuttings.
When propagating by seeds, it should be remembered that the material that is intended for drinks will not work. The fruit should be fully ripe and fresh. And this method does not guarantee the preservation of all properties of the parent instance. If there are ripe homemade coffee berries, then you need to carefully remove the seeds, peeling them from the pulp. Then they are washed in a solution of potassium permanganate. The substrate is prepared 14 days before planting and is composed of turf soil, peat and river sand, you can mix in a little ash. All are mixed and left to "reach". The seeds are placed on the ground with a groove down and only slightly pressed into the substrate by no more than 1 cm. Then the crops are well moistened and the container is covered with a transparent lid, a piece of glass or a plastic bag. Contain the container in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight. The temperature is maintained at about 25 degrees, high humidity is needed, but at the same time daily ventilation. Then sprouts can be expected in a month.
As soon as a couple of real leaves appear, a dive is carried out into new pots with a diameter of 7 cm. If the trunk begins to lignify and crack, this is a normal process. Sometimes even brown color or spots appear on the trunk, but this soon disappears. The next time the pot is changed after a month, increasing by size. Such a plant will have only one stem, and then skeletal branches are formed. Coffee will begin to bloom after 2 years from planting, and berries will appear only in the 4th year.
When grafting, cuttings of branches are cut in the spring from the crown of an adult specimen, only their middle part is used. Escape you need to choose last year's gain. The length of the cutting is 10-15 cm. It is placed in a growth stimulator for a day. Then they are planted in a peat-sand mixture, not deepening too much in an upright position. You will need shelter in the form of a glass jar or plastic bag. A rooting place is needed without direct streams of light and with a temperature of about 25 degrees. Requires daily ventilation and periodic spraying.
After forty days, you can see a bud on the spinner of the cutting - rooting is proceeding normally. When a couple of new leaves appear on the branch, then you can transplant into a new larger pot with more fertile soil. The new tank needs drainage, the place is bright, but without direct streams of ultraviolet radiation and periodic spraying.
Difficulties in home cultivation of coffee and ways to solve them
Almost all parts of the plant (some to a greater extent others to a lesser extent) contain caffeine, which serves as a kind of plant protection from pests. However, occasionally there is a lesion with a scabbard, spider mite, sooty fungus, and also a bean borer or coffee rust cannot give rest. They are treated with an appropriate insecticidal preparation.
If the heat indicators drop to 10-12 degrees in winter, the foliage along the edge will turn black, and then the entire surface will become so and the coffee tree will die.
Interesting facts about the coffee tree
Despite the fact that there are many varieties, some species are cultivated precisely for obtaining aromatic seeds (in colloquial speech they are called grains), which then, after going through roasting and digestion, turn into a drink adored by many - coffee. The most popular in this regard are two types: Arabian coffee trees and Congolese. From the first, Arabica is obtained, and the latter, respectively, become robusta. Also, occasionally, Cameroon and Bengali coffee species are grown to obtain grains.
The whole history of coffee began in the Middle East and goes back to the earliest times and the first civilizations of those areas. Although until now scientists have not come to a consensus.
There is a version that the Oromo tribes, the ancestors of the Ethiopian peoples, were the first to notice the tonic effect of coffee beans. Only now there is no evidence that they knew about coffee on the lands of Africa until the 17th century - no. There is a truth unproven and unconfirmed by facts legend that the first to see the effect of coffee beans was the shepherd of the Ethiopian people Kaldim around 850. It was as if he noticed a strange excitement that seized his goats, eating some strange fruits of the bush. The shepherd decided to taste these ordinary-looking berries - but they turned out to be completely tasteless and bitter, in frustrated feelings Caldim spat them out. Apparently, a couple of berries got into a kindled fire, and a divine aroma floated above it. Then a drink was prepared from the fried berries, which is still popular all over the world.
The energy that comes with drinking a coffee drink is provided by caffeine, of which there is up to 2%, as well as organic acids, carbohydrates, fats, as well as proteins, amino acids and minerals. But the excellent taste of coffee is given by chlorogenic acid and multiple ester-like compounds that appear in the process of roasting beans. The physical effect on the body is due to the alkaloid - caffeine.
Types of coffee
- Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica), which is also referred to as the Arabian coffee tree. The most common type, it is he who is called arabica. The native habitat is in the river valleys located in the Kefa region in southwestern Ethiopia. There you can most often find wild thickets of this plant at altitudes of 1600-2000 meters above sea level. This species is widely cultivated in the countries of Latin America, as well as in the lands of Indonesia, India and Brazil. It is noticed that coffee trees of this variety cannot grow at an absolute height lower than 1200-1500 meters, since they absolutely cannot stand the tropical heat and shading by other representatives of the flora. In those areas, it is customary to replace it with Congolese coffee (Coffea Canephora), and the amount of precipitation should be greater than 1300 mm per year. An evergreen plant can be either a shrub or a tree, with a height of about 5 m (sometimes 8–10 m). The length of the taproot is no more than 45 cm, it is short and strong. At the trunk, the bark of a greenish-gray color is slipping. The branches have drooping and spreading outlines, long and flexible. The leaf plates are whole-edged, the lump is slightly wavy, the arrangement is opposite, they reach 5–20 cm in length and up to 1.5–5 cm in width. The petioles are short, hanging. Flowers of both sexes, white with a fragrant aroma, gather in an inflorescence of 3-6 buds. They can self-pollinate, or it is done by the wind or insects. The shape of the fruit is oval-elliptical or practically spherical. They are a berry that, when ripe, reaches 1.5 cm. The color is yellow or dark red. Full maturation occurs after 9 months from the flowering process. The peel is dense, the seeds are paired with a greenish-gray color scheme. On the one hand, their contours are oval, and on the other there is a deep groove on the flat-convex surface.
- Congolese coffee (Coffea canephora) referred to everywhere as Robusta or Coffea robesta. It translates as "strong", as it is highly resistant to pests and diseases, as well as high yields. Usually it can be both a shrub and a low tree, varying in height by 2-10 m. The plant is quite durable. The taproot is short, and the overgrowing roots are located in large numbers in the substrate layer at a depth of 15 cm. The branches grow in a vertical and horizontal surface (they are fruit), after they die off in a natural order, they fall off. They remain on Arabica and can be removed by cutting. The leaf plates are whole-edged, with slight waviness, arranged in opposite order, they can grow 5–32 cm in length with a width of about 2–8 cm. The petioles are short, often hanging. The flowers are bisexual, whitish, often decorated with a creamy brown star-shaped pattern, and have a fragrant aroma. Collected in an inflorescence of 3-6 units. They are self-sterile and can only be pollinated by the wind. The fruit is a rounded berry, in length it will reach 0.8–1.5 cm when ripe. It is painted in a dark red tone, and can fully ripen 10–11 months after flowering. The peel is very dense, the seeds are cast in a greenish-gray color, they sit in pairs. Like Arabica with a longitudinal groove on one side, the other is convex and smooth.
The main secrets of growing coffee at home in the following video:
