Tips for Growing Coffee Plant Indoors (2024)

Coffee Plant Care

Whether you grow coffee plants in your yard or indoors, the best environment is one that mimics the plant’s natural conditions on a tropical, mid-elevation mountainside. Here are the main care requirements for growing a coffee plant as a houseplant:

• Place it in a location near a window but not in direct sunlight, which can burn the leaves.
• Maintain a room temperature between 65 and 80 degrees.
• Use rich, peat-based, slightly acidic potting soil amended with organic matter.
• Water the plant as often as needed to keep the soil evenly moist.
• In spring and summer, fertilize with a diluted liquid fertilizer.
• Prune the plant in the spring to encourage dense, bushy growth.

Light

Coffee plants preferindirect light, since they are understory plants (existing under the forest canopy). Coffee plants that are exposed to too much direct sunlight will develop leaf browning.

Soil

Plant coffee plants in rich, peat-based potting soil with excellent drainage. Coffee plants prefer acidic soil. If your plant is not thriving, add organic matter to the soil to lower the pH.

Water

Coffee plants do best if they are watered deeply to moisten the soil throughout, then watered again when the soil has dried out about halfway. The soil should stay evenly moist but not waterlogged. Never allow the soil to dry out completely.

Temperature and Humidity

The optimal average temperature range for coffee plants is a daytime temperature between 70 to 80 degrees and a nighttime temperature between 65 and 70 degrees. Higher temperatures can accelerate growth but are not ideal for growing plants for their beans.

These plants thrive in highly humid conditions, though a humidity level of 50 percent or higher relative humidity should suffice. If the air is too dry, the leaf edges might start to brown. Place a humidifier near the plant for consistently high humidity.

Fertilizer

In the spring and summer, during the growing season, feed coffee plant with a liquid fertilizer, diluted to half strength, every couple of weeks. Cut the fertilizer back to once a month in the winter.

Types of Coffee Plant

In addition to C. arabica, the most popular coffee for growing coffee beans, there are other noteworthy coffee varieties:

• C. arabica 'Nana': This is a dwarf variety that only grows 12 inches tall, making it ideal to grow indoors.
• C. canephora: Commonly known as robusta coffee, this species comes from sub-Saharan Africa. Its plants are robust; however, the coffee beans tend to have a stronger, harsher taste than arabica beans.
• C. liberica: A variety native to central and western Africa, it was first discovered in Liberia. It produces large fruits with a higher caffeine content than arabica beans but lower than robusta beans.
• C. charrieriana: This plant produces a caffeine-free variety of coffee beans.
• C. magnistipula: Native to the Lower Guinean forests of tropical West Africa, this variety grows in a shrub-like shape.

Pruning

Coffee plants grown as houseplants should be pruned every spring to maintain their shape. Using sterilized, sharp pruning shears, remove any old, dead, and bare branches as well as leaves growing directly from the lower part of the trunk.

To encourage dense, bushy growth, cut the stems at a 45-degree angle, about ¼ inch above a leaf joint (where the leaf attaches to the stem).

Propagating Coffee Plants

The fastest method to propagate a coffee plant is from stem cuttings. The best time to take a cutting is in the early summer.

1. Use sterile pruners to cut an 8- to 10-inch stem.
2. Remove all but a pair of upper leaves.
3. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone.
4. Fill a 4-inch pot with damp potting mix and insert the cutting deeply into the soil.
5. Cover the cutting with a clear plastic dome or plastic bag. Place it in a warm location but out of direct sunlight, and keep the soil evenly moist.
6. Once roots have formed, move the young plant into bright, indirect light and remove the dome or bag.

How to Grow Coffee Plant From Seed

While you can't germinate the coffee beans you buy in a store, you can sprout the ones that grow on your coffee plant, provided it's not a cultivar. Called "cherries," the fruit should be picked when they're a bright crimson color. Coffee seeds are also available from seed companies.

1. The “cherries” are ready when you can rub away their flesh. Wash off any residue to release the seeds inside.
2. Dry the seeds thoroughly by letting them cure on a plate lined with paper towel for a few weeks.
3. Soak the beans in water for 24 hours, and toss any that float.
4. Fill 4-inch pots with damp, but well-draining potting mix.
5. Plant the seeds ¼ inch deep.
6. Keep the pot in a warm location but away from direct sunlight, and keep the soil even moist. It takes six to eight weeks for the seeds to germinate.
7. As they grow, transplant the seedlings into larger pots with a well-draining, slightly acidic potting mix and keep them well-watered.

Potting and Repotting Coffee Plant

Coffee plants do poorly when rootbound, so repot your plant whenever the roots start to outgrow the pot, gradually stepping up the pot size. Use a pot with large drainage holes and fresh potting soil each time. The best time for repotting is in the late winter before the new growth starts.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Coffee plants grown indoors will sometimes suffer from infestations of mealybugs, aphids, and mites. Signs of infestation include tiny webs, clumps of white powdery residue, or visible insects on the plant. Treat infestations as soon as possible with organic pesticides such as insecticidal soap or neem oil to prevent them from spreading to the rest of your collection.

Fungal diseases like leaf spot can give your coffee plant brown spots on its leaves. To remedy this, remove affected leaves and stems and trim away inner branches so there is better air circulation for your plant.

How to Get a Coffee Plant to Bloom

Even though coffee plants are vigorous growers, it will typically take three to five years before your plant produces flowers and fruits indoors.

Bloom Months

When grown as houseplants, coffee plants typically bloom in April and May.

How Long Does The Coffee Plant Bloom?

In nature, the bloom lasts for two to three months. Houseplants have a much shorter bloom period of about one month at the most.

What Do Coffee Plant Flowers Look and Smell Like?

The delicate white flowers, which grow in sets of four, form clusters along the stem of the leaves. They have a jasmine-like scent. The size of the flowers varies depending on the species. C. canephora has larger and more flowers than C. arabica.

How to Encourage More Blooms

In addition to providing the plant with sufficient sunlight and moisture, a moderately warm temperature between 68 and 75 degrees is ideal to trigger the flowering process.

If your coffee plant isn't blooming, it is either not mature enough or it is not getting the energy it needs from bright indirect light. Try moving your coffee plant to an east-facing window, where it will get the sunlight it needs to bloom.

Caring for Coffee Plant After It Blooms

No special care is required after the bloom. The spent flowers naturally drop to the ground.

Common Problems With Coffee Plant

Browning Leaves

Leaves that turn brown and fall off usually do so from leaf scorch. Fixing it is merely a matter of giving your coffee plant more indirect light. Browning leaves can also be caused by too much water or root rot, which is often the result of roots sitting in waterlogged soil.