3/7/2017 1 Comment Coffee (Coffea arabica)The coffee plant, as you can guess, is where coffee beans come from. Originally native to the country of Ethiopia, the coffee plant has been domesticated, altered, and spread to be grown through out the world. In order to collect coffee beans from the plant, it first must flower. In the most ideal cases, a coffee plant takes around five years to mature before it starts producing flowers. Once pollinated, the flowers turn into red berries which contain the coffee bean. Coffee plants are a little more challenging to grow and keep looking well when compared to more easier varieties like pothos or spider plants, largely due to their high humidity and light needs, and the fact that they must never fully dry out.
CareWith proper care, coffee plants can grow to a staggering 6 feet tall in indoor conditions and can even flower and produce coffee beans once mature. LightIt is best to grow the coffee plant in the windowsill of a west facing window, or a few feet back from a South facing window. They thrive in bright indirect light. Take care to keep them away from drafty windows as they can not handle temperatures under 18 degrees celsius for prolonged amounts of time. SoilEnsure that you plant your coffee plant in a well draining mix. A mixture of 50/50 perlite and potting soil works well. Ensure that the pot has an adequate drainage hole. WaterIn order to keep the coffee plant alive and healthy, the soil must not be allowed to dry out. The soil must be kept constantly moist, but not soggy or wet. A good indication, if you are worried of overwatering, is to wait until the leaves begin to droop down a little. A tell tale sign that it needs a drink. However, be wary since drooping leaves can also mean it is being over watered as over watering causes the roots to rot, making the plant unable to take up water. Consider planting in a unglazed clay pot to avoid overwatering. Like with any plant, adjust your watering depending on the weather. In the winter or periods of cloudy weather, water less. While watering more in days of excessive sun and heat. HumidityCoffee plants love humidity, which is rarely available in a city like Calgary. In order to increase the humidity around the plant consider planting it close to other plants or installing a pebble or humidity tray underneath the plant. To create a humidity/pebble tray, get a saucer and fill it with either marbles or small rocks. Pour in some water and place the plant on top of the rocks or marbles. Make sure the bottom of the pot is not coming into contact with the water. Note that spraying plants with a spray bottle does not aid in raising the humidity around a plant enough to be effective. FertilizerCoffee plants enjoy being fed with a balanced fertilizer every one or two months during the growing season. Make sure you thoroughly flush the soil with water every once in a while to get rid of the nutrient and salt build ups within the soil. PestsCoffee plants are prone to spiders mites, mealy bugs, fungus gnats, springtails, and scale.
Spider Mites, Mealy bugs If you notice small webbing between leave sand plants and/or small white or black dots on the underside of leaves, you have a spider mite infestation. Make sure to isolate the plant as spider mites (same as the others) spread very easy. Spider mites thrive in dry air and stagnant rooms. Try raising the humidity of the plant and provide air circulation to stop spider mites from manifesting. To get rid of a current infestation, either spray down the plant every week or 2 weeks with an insecticidal soap or a mixture of (environmentally friendly) dish soap and water. Similar care is used to get rid of mealy bugs. make sure when dealing with mealy bugs to pick off and kill all adults you find. Fungus gnats If you see small black flies flying around or emerging from the soil of your plant, you have got a fungus gnat infestation. Fungus gnats appear when the soil is kept overly moist or wet. To stop fungus gnats from appearing, allow the soil to dry out a bit more between waterings and invest in a well draining mix. Also remove organic compounds such as dead leaves and stems from the top of the soil. To combat adults, place out yellow sticky traps. To get the young that live in the soil, allow the soil to dry out more between waterings, or consider in purchasing BTI. BTI like BTK for caterpillars, is a natural, pesticide free method that only affects and kills gnats. You can find BTI as mosquito dunks at hardware stores or pet store. Break off a chunk and allow it to soak in the watering can over night. Once you water the plants, all of the young that come into contact with the BTI will die. Mature fungus gnats pose no real threat to plants, but rather it is the young that lives in the soil that can cause problems. They feed on young roots and organic matter in the soil and can kill seedlings and in some cases even adult plants. If you have fungus gnats, you are either watering too much, or you don't have a good enough draining mix. Springtails If you see tiny white jumpy bugs on the top of your soil or crawling around the bottom of the pot you've got Springtails. Springtails are attracted to overly moist conditions as well, yet they rarely do any sort of damage and are more annoying than harmful. Consider adjusting your watering regime and providing air circulation to the bottom of the pot, if you so wish to get rid of them. Scale Small black bumps appearing on the underside of leaves and the stems as well as sticky hondeydew covered leafs means you have got scale. Scale often requires the most work to get rid of when compared to spider mites. A water solution of neem oil and water as well as insecticidal soap sprayed on the plant can help get rid of the problem. Make sure you pick off and kill any adults you see on the plant. Continue to treat the plsnt a few weeks after the adults are gone to ensure that you are killing the microscopic eggs and young. |
AuthorAaron Roberge ArchivesCategories |