Coffee plants not only give the all-favourite coffee beans but also give an amazing look to your house. They can grow up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) if grown in a native tropical habitat area, so considering this, it is necessary for you to prune the plant regularly if you have one at your home.
Getting to Know Coffee Plants
Before you start pruning your coffee plants, you should get to know more about Coffea arabica. A member from the Rubiaceae family. Coffea arabica is one of 90 in the family of Coffea. The plant has perennial shrubs with glossy leaves and dark green color, it has ruffled edges and white blossoms with a pleasant aroma. The coffee plant is beautiful and evergreen. Grow this plant as an attractive houseplant, or if you want the fruits, then you must have incredible patience to wait four years to get the fruits, enough for a cup full of coffee.
Tropical regions of Africa and Southern Asia should have a temperature of 21 C (70 F) or more than this in the morning and at night 15-20 C (60-65 F). Make sure to provide a sufficient amount of water before going to bed. Also, keep your plant’s soil well-drained non-soggy irrigation and the filtered sun will help your plant grow.
However, coffee plants can provide their fruits without any fertilization. But still, for the best quality fruits, feed your plant after every two weeks (twice a month) from March to October, and after that, you can feed them each month. We recommend using a Soluble (all-purpose type fertilizer).
If you want, you can visit an online nursery to get a coffee plant. We recommend buying ‘Nana’ cultivar Coffea arabica if you don’t want a plant that grows rapidly, creating a frequent necessity of cutting the plant.
How to Prune the Plant
Because they have the ability to grow up to 3 to 4.5 meters (10-15 feet), so cannot be managed in typical homes. This makes pruning a must-do job, not a preference. Don’t worry cutting the plant is a very easy task to do. When you are cutting the plant, remember that this coffee plant is very strong and forgiving, which means you will not harm the plant whatsoever.
Usually, when coffee plants are pruned in commercial areas, they are kept on a height limit of 1.8 meters (6 feet). This is way too much for a typical home, you might want to cut off more than 6 feet.
Sometimes pruning the coffee plant might require the pinching method (one of the easiest methods in pruning). Literally pinching with fingers will not only prune but also help the plant to get bushier over time. You can also use a cutter or scissors for this job.
To maintain a bushy and fluffy look, prune the plant during the spring seasons. You can use pruning shears. Some tips on pruning – cut the branch in 45 degrees and 6.4 mm (¼ inch) away from the leaf attachment on the branch, this is called Axil. Don’t forget to check the top growth to prune, cut off any dead or dying leaves.
The remaining’s after the pruning process are hard to utilize, if you desire to use the leftover stems, use them before they go dry or hard.
Conclusion
So, the coffee plant is a great indoor plant to attract people. Also, they require minimum maintenance. They live for years, meaning they will make your house look prettier for years.
Related Articles
