NEVER let dry out.One good dry out and they either will die or be set back a very long time. Use azalea and Rhodo fertilizers.

I do the opposite, I water throughly, then let it dry out completely before watering again. Try to keep the humidity high and give it bright but not direct sun. If you notice the edges of the leaves turning brown, try to increase the humidity. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion guys. So it seems water is an issue. What I think I'll do is put them in a larger pot. This will allow the roots to go deeper and provide the plant more flexibility with water. And the fertlizer tip suggests acid soil with minors.
Anyone else have tips?

I've had one for about 8 years now. I never did treat it any different then any other tropical that I have. It puts on a burst of growth in spring then it doesn't do much growing for the rest of the year.

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Wow ankraras ! Do you grow it in full sun or did you pull it off the covered patio for the picture? Do you know if it is robusta or arabica? You show zone 8 - 9, how do you protect it during the winter? Have you had any blooms yet?

Hi houstonpat, I have a coffee plant also, an arabica. I bought it at Wally world almost two years ago in a 6" pot. I live in FL, so it gets lots of humidity. When I first bought it I put it in full sun and I almost killed it, LOL...after almost all the leaves burned and fell off,I put in under a palm tree where it only gets early morning sun appx. 2 hours. I water it very well when I do water, it loves water. I water at least 3 times a week in the hot summer months. It bloomed for me several weeks ago and I even have a few coffee beans on it for the very first time. Also loves to be fertilized every 2- 4 weeks with acid loving fertilizer. Good luck with yours!!

ankraras, that is a beautiful Coffee Plant!! Thanks for that picture.

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I bought at K-mart what it said was coffee. It has bloomed two years in a row for me. The leaves look just like your pitcher, but the flowers are really large like a gardina. Will some one let me know if it is a coffee or something else? Thanks

You guessed it, lol. The plant is under the plantzebo behind our home. The pic taken under there didn't turn out well.

Evidently, I lost the tag that came with the plant so I don't remember which one it is. It was flowering at the time that I bought it in a 1gallon container and just over a foot tall. It has flowered twice since then but no beans, boohoo. Anyone have any advice on how I can get it to produce some beans, even maybe just one or two beans for the fun of it?

Thank you Puglvr1!

Imagine my big eyes on those beans!!! Maybe Houstonpat will share with us how to best germinate them.

Maryataylor 2008 ;- Can you post a photo?

Mary, yes, can you post a pic of your plant, are the flowers star shaped? There is a plant that looks very similar to coffee and its called "tabernaemontana divaricata". I posted a link below, see if it looks like your plant?

ankrasas, for what its worth I read an article that says to use Epsom salts to promote blooming, which in turn may have helped in producing beans. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but within a few weeks after I used the epsom salts I got my very first blooms. But you do live in AZ, which is very dry and I live in FL where it is very humid this time of year. I wonder if that could be the reason??

Here's a pic of my largest bean, I have a few more, but much smaller...
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Here is a link that might be useful: Yahoo ( Tabernaemontana)

Mary,

Were you able to identify your plant? Is is coffee?

It has been ages since I have posted. Let me say how coffee grows down here. Depending on the variety it will grow in full sun or not. All coffee plantations here in Venezuela are in areas with a very distinct dry season so the plants have a dormant season. Not like in the northern climates by any means but during the dry season they do not grow and often the leaves will be wilted. About 8 days after the first rain the plants flower and set fruit. I think they need this rest period if youn want them to set flowers. chris

I have wonderful trees and have recently move them. They are now south facing with full sun in the morning. They all have their leaves facing downward. Any known causes and solutions?

Just a heads up for those that don't know.

Epsom salt is magnesium sulphate. I would only use them if you truly have a magnesium deficiency.

Here is a link that might be useful: epsom salts

kelleycoffee, my guess is maybe because you moved it to direct sun. I know some people grow them in full sun, but mine never liked it. I put mine in full sun and sunburned most of my leaves. After I moved it under a tree where it got filtered sun only in the morning it started doing well. Like I said its just a guess...If you want to put in full sun, I would do it very slowly over 7-10 days or more. Start with an hour a day, then build up slowly. But with my experience mine was much happier in indirect bright light. Mine also loves water especially this time of year. Mine starts to droop when it gets a little dry. They like it moist, not wet.

All great ideas. I germinated mine indoors under grow lights. I cleaned the fruit off the seed then planted them just under the surface of the soil using good potting mix. I used a clean plastic pot and left about an inch of air space between the soil and plastic wrap I put over the pot to hold in moisture. It took about 3 months for the seeds to sprout! I understand this is normal. Once sprouted I removed the plastic. The first leaves are perfectly round. I used a scalpel and tweezers to help remove the parchment from around the sprouting leaves. Once the round leaves were all out and up I moved the plant outside into my shade house. Summer temps here are in the 90s every day with scattered showers. I plan on protecting it during the winter as with my tropical ferns and the sort.

I have 7 plants that I started from coffee cherries that I picked up off the ground when we were on Maui for vacation last summer. I had read that they would be difficult to germinate, but I found it very easy. I removed the outer part of the coffee cherries, and stuck in the beans in some cactus mix in plastic cups with holes poked in the bottom. They popped up after only a couple of weeks.

They have been very happy living indoors on east and north facing window sills. I give them some water when the soil surface looks dry, and occasionally put in a bit of citrus fertilizer.

I just repotted them, and unfortunately the pots are too big to go on window sills now, so I have them out on the patio. Not sure what I will do with them this winter. Most mid-winter mornings are down to 33-34 F -- not sure how they would tolerate that.

If there's anyone else in the San Francisco bay area, I'd love to trade a few of my coffea arabicas. Especially interested in cinnamon, vanilla and cacao.

Photos below are from just after germination (Aug 27, 2007) and yesterday after repotting (Aug 24, 2008).

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Wow!! You did an excellent job germinating those seeds...The trees all look very healthy. Hope you get some trades, those are very nice plants!! Grew pretty fast for only a year too...