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stanofh

California Coffee

A couple of weeks ago I planted out one I bought in spring at Lowes that was a $2.00 special. Rescued,it grew a nice set of dark green leaves. Now,I have had coffee plants before do great as house plants..then die when that time always seemed to come up when they became large and potbound and we had a heatwave..and just a day without water caused it to die. And I've tried them as potted outdoor small plants..and they died in winter.

NOW,this is the first time in ground. Planted in the shade of a young Rhopalistylus sapida palm,surrounded by young tree ferns and large cane Begonia's. I've heard coffee in ground can take the colder winter temps.

Any experiences with them?

Comments (4)

  • johnmerr
    12 years ago

    I live in Guatemala, where we produce the finest coffee in the world. Your tree will live outside quite well; and even if frosted, you can cut it back below the frost mark and it will grow again. They are beautiful plants, but require regular pruning to promote growth; most growers here, where the trees are grown in shade, use a rock and roll pruning system; i.e., every year they cut one third of the rows at 1 foot above ground level. Prior to the advent of that system, they used to just cut one third of the limbs every year; that produces a taller, less bushy tree that is difficult to harvest. Do you know what variety your coffee tree is? I would expect if you bought it in California, it probably comes from Mexico and is Arabica. If you are hoping to produce coffee beans one day, you should know that the lower the altitude, the smaller the bean. The best beans here are grown at about 5,000 feet; but that would be too cold in California. Anyway, the flowers are pure perfume and the beans are bright red when ripe, so who really cares about the coffee; you can always go to Starbucks, who buys 40% of the Guatemalan crop annually and puts about 60% Guatemala beans in its house blend.

  • gnappi
    12 years ago

    I have three. One is 4-5' tall, the other two ~ 3' tall. All are understory to Christmas palms and bananas. They really like the shade away from the searing Florida sun.

    All have been in the ground all summer of 2011 they are growing nicely and have dark green waxy leaves. I never let them dry out completely, and fertilize infrequently, I have pretty good soil.

    I'm eager to get some beans.

  • rtees_garden
    12 years ago

    While I have no personal experience growing them, I had a neighbor who had a few planted outdoors in his yard (coastal So. CA). Much like others have stated, they are planted underneath a very dense canopy of palms. He kept the whole hillside well watered and the plants did well although I would not sat that they thrived in that location, but that could be due to any number of reasons.

    Also, although they were in the ground for many years, I do not think he ever got any beans from the plants.

    hope this is useful.
    Richard

  • stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks all ,Richard-intesting since those would be in the coolest location. Closer to the south bay area in climate. I had them in a greenhouse flower and set berrys..and that was with generic Home Depot, Coffee arabica grown big in pots. So no special needs for pollination other then tropical/subtropical weather.
    I can only hope for a 32f free winter. Happens here that we manage no frost some years. Not exactly Florida or SouCal though!