How to grow Arabica on the windowsill and take care of the coffee tree?

An indoor coffee bush of one of the Arabica varieties is not easy to keep in a city apartment due to the fact that caring for it includes creating a special lighting regime. With proper care, an unusual evergreen with glossy leaves will delight the owner for a long time, creating a pleasant atmosphere in the house. A bonus can be coffee beans for a fragrant drink, obtained directly from the bush. What do you need to know to grow your own coffee tree?

Description and varieties

More than 50 varieties of evergreen coffee bushes and trees bear the name Coffea arabica. But not all of them are suitable for growing in a flower pot.

In home collections of florists, the following varieties feel good.

• Abyssinian. The unpretentious coffee bush from the highlands of Africa is considered one of the most common coffee varieties in this group.
• Bourbon (Bourbon). A productive shrub from Ethiopia.
• Mundo Novo. A viable hybrid of two classic coffees: Bourbon and Typica.
• Maragodjeep. A variety that appeared as a result of natural mutation. It differs from others in low yield and gigantic size of ripe fruits.

A home-grown coffee plant can reach a height of 1 m. From one medium-sized root, several green shoots grow, which over time become lignified, turning into rigid, straight branches. The leaves of a coffee shrub are oval in shape with pointed ends and pronounced veins. Crown color - from bright green to dark green.

The flowering period of coffee is from 3 to 6 days. The first inflorescences appear at 4-5 years of life of the shrub. The white Arabica flowers are shaped like jasmine. Delicate "stars" grow in inflorescences of 2-5 flowers and exude a spicy aroma. Coffee is a self-pollinating plant, so each flower is capable of producing viable green fruits.

Coffee berries ripen unevenly, within 6 months. Ripe fruits change color to brownish red. Each berry contains two grains. From them you can get ground coffee or grow a new plant. However, flowering and fruit ripening occurs only if the plant is properly cared for.

Temperature and humidity

The homeland of Arabica coffee is the tropical part of the African continent, so the first thing that needs to be provided to the plant is year-round warmth. The plant does not tolerate hypothermia and drafts. In the warm season, the optimum air temperature for a coffee bush is + 22-26˚С, in winter - not lower than + 16-20˚С. If the plant is on the windowsill, it should be protected not only from drafts, but also from hypothermia of the soil. To do this, coffee is placed on a plastic or wooden stand, creating a layer of air between the surface of the windowsill and the bottom of the flower pot.

The coffee tree does not need too much moisture. It is better if there is enough fresh air in the room where the flower lives. From time to time, the leaves can be sprayed with a fine spray bottle. But in winter, it is still recommended to keep the bush away from heating appliances.

Lighting during warm and cold periods

Half of the success in growing an "African guest" depends on the correct regime and light intensity. Arabica can be safely placed by the window overlooking the south side - the plant loves a lot of sunlight. The shrub should not be placed in direct sunlight, as this may cause burns on wide coffee leaves.The plant on the windowsill in the middle of a summer day needs to be shaded.

In winter, a long "daylight hours" are artificially created for the Arabica bush. To do this, you will need to install 1-2 fluorescent lamps. With the onset of summer heat, the plant can be taken out into fresh air, for example, on a loggia or in a corner of the garden, protected from a draft. To prevent the coffee tree from getting sick due to a change in location, you need to wrap it with gauze for the first 2-4 days. This "cocoon" will create a moderate diffused light and help the Arabica to adapt to lighting from a different angle.

Advice

For uniform growth of branches and leaves of coffee, a proven technique is used: the plant is turned over towards the light source at least once every 4-5 days. But it will not be possible to get a crop of coffee beans from such a plant. You can try "home" coffee only to the detriment of the beautiful growth of the crown, if the shrub is not turned over or moved.

Home care - watering, feeding, pruning

Arabica does not need a summer-winter regime. The bush can be provided with "sleep" in a cool room at + 16-17˚С, but this is not necessary. In the winter months, only the coffee watering regime changes.

It is possible to highlight the basic rules of soil moistening, which will provide the plant with the required amount of water.

• Water should be softened, separated from lime, at room temperature.
• Before watering, it is recommended to add a few grains of citric acid or a drop of vinegar to the water to maintain the acidity level of the soil.
• In the summer, you need to water the soil in a pot sparingly, but often enough - once every 2-3 days.
• From about mid-autumn, the frequency of humidification gradually decreases. In autumn and winter, it is better to focus on the soil and water the coffee bush only when the top layer is completely dry.
• During flowering, the plant is watered abundantly, but not sprayed.
• Excess water from the pan must be drained, avoiding stagnation. This will protect the rhizome from rot.

Complex mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and nitrogen are suitable for feeding. The indoor tree assimilates liquid fertilizers better. You need to make top dressing only in the warm season, approximately once every 1.5 months. For the winter period, feeding stops.

To prune a plant, the less often the better principle applies. Florists generally advise, if possible, not to touch the bush, but to form the crown by pinching the upper leaves. Dried or diseased branches are carefully removed with a sharp knife. The cut site can be treated with an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate.

Reproduction of Arabica

You can get a new plant from an adult coffee bush at home. There are two ways to do this: cuttings and seed propagation. Germinating grains at home is quite troublesome, so seed breeding is not a very popular method. Only freshly harvested “green” coffee beans can be used.

Step-by-step seedling germination is as follows.

1. It is necessary to prepare containers with a loose nutritious soil substrate.
2. Seed material is washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
3. Coffee beans are stratified. Instead, you can carefully cut the shell.
4. Seeds are planted flat side down to a depth of 1-2 cm.
5. Crops are placed in a warm, well-lit place.
6. The soil is slightly moistened with a sprayer.
7. When the seedlings grow by about 10 cm, the plants are transplanted into flower pots.

Propagating a bush by cuttings is much safer and easier. A young plant obtained by this method begins to bloom much earlier, in the first or second year. The strongest and healthiest branches are suitable for seedlings.

1. Cuttings 15-20 cm long are cut from the crown of the tree and placed in a growth stimulator for a day.
2. After that, they are planted in individual seedling pots to a depth of 2-3 buds.
3. From above, each stalk is covered with a plastic bottle cap with several holes.
4. To strengthen the cuttings, a moist environment and a stable warm air temperature (+ 24-26˚С) are needed.
5. After the third leaf appears, the coffee seedling must be transplanted into a flower pot.

Immediately after transplanting, it is recommended to cut off the aerial part of the plant, leaving a couple of centimeters. This technique will allow the rhizome to grow stronger faster and release young shoots.

Transfer

For uniform growth and development of the root system, a growing young plant must be transplanted once a year. Caring for an adult bush includes a mandatory transplant into fresh soil at least once every three years.

For transplantation, use a special soil for plants of the madder family, which includes coffee. If such a substrate was not found in the store, you can make the soil mixture yourself by mixing the following components in equal parts:

• fried (steamed) leafy ground;
• sour peat;
• humus;
• forest moss;
• clean sand;
• charcoal.

At each transplanting, the flowerpot should be chosen 2-4 cm larger than the previous container. The Arabica rhizome grows downward, so the pot must be tall. A drainage layer is placed on the bottom of the pot. After transplanting, the coffee bush must be protected from additional stress, providing warmth and moderate humidity.

In the natural environment, coffee is considered a long-lived plant. An indoor Arabica bush can live up to 10 years if properly cared for. The plant can last longer, but the old shrub loses its attractive appearance and blooms sluggishly every few years. It is worth taking care of the cuttings or seedlings of a young coffee tree in advance so that this tropical plant continues to decorate the house and delight the owners with fresh flowers and grains.