Worth knowing:
Dwarf Coffee grows in the beginning one stem and gets more bushy over time. Kept in a pot or tub, it can become up to 1,50 meters tall. Its opposite leaves are dark green coloured and shiny. After at least three years – in case of the Dwarf Coffee at a height of 40 to 50 cm – it brings out white and vanilla scented blossoms. The afterwards appearing fruits (coffee cherries) are green coloured at first, then become red and later on black. Each fruit typically contains two beans.
Natural Location:
Originally, the Coffea arabica comes most likely from Abyssinia in East Africa, which is the area of today’s Ethiopia.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you should place the seeds overnight in warm water for priming. Then plant the seeds about 1 cm deep in moist potting compost and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The germination takes about three to four weeks, while it takes a bit longer until the cotyledons are fully separated from the beans.
Place:
The Coffee plant can be kept in full sunny to semi-shaded places and can of course put outdoors during the summer.
Care:
Ideally as a substrate is a mix of three quarters of humous earth and one quarter of sand. The earth should be kept moist, but avoid waterlogging. Between April and September it is best to provide your Coffee plant with fertilizer every three weeks.
During the winter:
As a plant originating from East Africa, the Dwarf Coffee is not frost-resistant. Therefore, it should be kept in a bright spot with temperatures not less than 15° to 20° Celsius during hibernation. To let the bush mature on its own, it is not recommended to fertilize after beginning of October. To prevent the roots from drying out, it is necessary to sparingly water the plant. You may also spray the leaves of your Dwarf Coffee regularly with soft water, so the tip of the leaves don’t dry out by the warm air of the heater in the winter time.
Picture credits:
- © © H.Zell - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Sabine Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © H.Zell - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © - -
