Coffee Plant

Botanical Name: Coffea arabica

Coffee Plant is the source of the world's most popular breakfast beverage.

Coffee Plant You can enjoy your own coffee, as well as enjoying the glossy, dark green leaves and fragrant white flowers of this easy-to-grow, unique plant.

This member of the Rubiaceae family is one of 90 in the Coffea genus. It is an evergreen shrub that has glossy, dark-green leaves with ruffled edges on willowy stems.

This coffee bean plant can reach 15 ft or more in its native tropical habitat, but you can cut it back to control its size. Pruning harshly won't hurt it at all. Prune it back in spring to keep it bushy and full.

After 3 or 4 years, Coffea arabica produces star-shaped, sweetly scented white flowers. These flowers are followed by green fruits which change to red then to almost black as they ripen, a process that takes several months. Inside each ripened fruit are 2 seeds that when properly roasted can be ground and made into coffee.

Growing coffee plants indoors is easy. They are vigorous growers and are long-lived. They make attractive house plants, just don't expect them to offer that morning cup of joe. It could take several years before you see many fruits on it.

Origin: Southern Asia and Tropical Africa

Height: To 6 ft (1.8 m) indoors

Light: Bright light, no direct sun.

Water: Keep soil thoroughly moist in spring and summer, barely moist in fall and winter. Provide good drainage.

Humidity: Requires moist air. Use a humidifier for best results.

Temperature: Average room temperatures 60-75°F, 16-24°C. Not tolerant of freezing temperatures.

Soil: Peat moss based potting mix.

Fertilizer: Feed every 2 weeks spring and summer with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half.

Propagation: Seeds. Cuttings are difficult to propagate.