Do You Want to Grow a Coffee Tree at Home?

If your idea is to produce some homemade coffee, you must be patient. The coffee trees take a minimum of 3 or 4 years to mature.

Last week, That Coffee Roasters taught you how to roast coffee beans at home. This is a very rewarding experience that any coffee lover can appreciate. But what other knowledge about coffee could you learn and apply in your home life? This time you might choose a basic process, but perhaps more complicated to accomplish: planting a coffee tree in your garden.

Although it may sound like a simple procedure, growing plants, in general, requires dedication and following certain steps, and with the coffee tree it couldn’t be any different. On today’s blog, That Coffee Roasters offers you all the information you need to know to plant your tree outside the tropical climate of countries such as Colombia and Brazil, two of the world biggest coffee producers.

How to grow a coffee tree at home

If you’re in Miami, you’ve probably succumbed to the quality of ground coffee or coffee beans that big roasting companies, such as That Coffee Roasters, have produced with quality products brought from the tropics of the continent. This constant exposure to coffee only generates more interest in learning about the subject, and many may be wondering if it’s possible to have a small plant at home outside the coffee growing areas. The reality is that it is possible to grow a coffee tree at home with proper care. Want to know how? Keep reading!

Finding the seeds

The first step will be to find the seeds to plant the tree. The ideal would be to find the fresh berries of an already constituted coffee plant. In these cases, the berry is usually opened and the beans are removed from the inside. These are fermented in water for several days and then dried in the open air until they are dry on the outside, but still moist on the inside.

If it’s not possible to get the necessary amount of red berries, you can choose recently harvested green beans. It is important that they have less than four months of harvest because it’s easier for them to germinate when they are planted.

Planting the seeds

Once the seeds are ready, you should proceed to prepare the soil, which should be clean and free of stones; in these cases, many people also use homemade fertilizers as a supplement. The most important part of this step is to put the seed in the middle of a small pot and spray it with water twice a day, without flooding the soil. The seed should be moist, not soaked in water. Then, you should allow the seed to germinate from two to five months (depending on the freshness of the seeds you have obtained). After that period, if the pot is not deep enough, it’s advisable to transplant the seed into a larger one.

Growing the tree

Nine months later the plant will have fully germinated and developed its leaves. During this time it’s necessary to water the plant once a day carefully. Depending on the area you live in, it may not be advisable to transplant the coffee plant in the garden. Extreme temperatures don’t benefit tree growth, so you should be very careful when making a decision.

To keep the coffee tree inside the house, it should be transplanted again into a larger pot and placed in a room where it receives sunlight and temperatures are kept between 45 and 80 °F.

If it’s possible to keep the tree out of the house in your home, choose an area where it doesn’t receive direct sunlight all day. Remember to water it away every day, use fertilizers and fight any pest that wants to damage your beloved plant.

Finally, you need to know that this is a matter of patience, as the process to obtain a good coffee from your coffee tree can take from 3 to 6 years. It’s a long wait, but it’s worth it. And if you’re not sure, just ask That Coffee Roasters!

As a company specialized in providing the best roasted coffee, we know what it’s like to wait for a good product that meets all your expectations. While waiting for your coffee plant to produce a good harvest, don’t hesitate to consume the best variety of coffee. Follow us through our social networks and discover the best coffee products to ease the long wait.

Growing a coffee tree outside of tropical lands can be difficult, but not impossible. 

That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

Facebook: That Coffee Roasters

Instagram: thatcoffeeroasters

Why You Should Be Supporting Sustainable Coffee Production

Coffee's demand is growing every year.

Every day, more than 1.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide. Coffee's demand is rising every year, which is why we sometimes wonder: how are we capable of producing so much coffee? Our beloved little coffee beans are actually the world’s second most traded commodity, only losing to oil. Many third world countries and rural societies rely on coffee as one of the most important branches of their economies, but just how sustainable are those models over time? How do they impact the environment and the lives of farmers?  We’re never going to regret being coffee lovers, but we do think about the possible impact of such a huge mass-production industry has. Is sustainable coffee production possible?

What’s the price for our love?

As the need for more supplies rises and coffee farmers are excluded from the industry’s profit potential, the drive for an increased output grows as well. Third world coffee farmers, who only receive 10% of a product's retail price, want to produce as much coffee as they can in as little time as it’s possible, using methods that are less environmentally friendly.

Traditionally, coffee has always been grown under a shaded canopy of trees, providing a habitat for animals and insects, preventing soil erosion and eliminating the need for fertilizers. However, and thanks to the rising demand, new growing methods, such as “sun cultivation” crops, have appeared. In order for coffee cherries to be cultivated massively, the forested canopy is removed and millions of acres of forest are cleared. Therefore, a disturbing damage to biodiversity ensues. In fact, according to World Wide Fund, 37 of the 50 countries with the highest deforestation rates are also coffee producers.

Coffee sustainability: a challenge

The definition of sustainability varies from one industry to the other. In the coffee world, sustainable production means coffee grown in a manner that takes into consideration the environment and the people who live there. Ideally, sustainable coffee farmers would use renewable resources every time they can and give back to the land everything they take from it. It also means reducing pollution, caring for the needs of workers, and minimizing water consumption.

Things like these can be achieved by naturally filtering the water used for fertilization through the earth and then using it for coffee irrigation. Farmers can also give back some natural nutrients to the land by spreading organic fertilizers under coffee trees. They can engage and return to practices such as shade growing, biodiversification, and coffee husks usage as fuel rather than cutting eucalyptus trees. Decent working conditions, wages, and medical care for farmers and workers are also needed to guarantee models that can last in time, and that will grant opportunities for next generations.

However, it isn’t as simple as it sounds. Sustainability in coffee production comes with a rise in production costs that, many times, multinationals and farmers are not willing to accept. Even when companies are willing to introduce environmentally friendly methods, agronomists don’t often see more substantial financial returns. That's why they prefer to keep harmful coffee growing methods that allow them to make a better profit. In any case, sustainable models are also only affordable if coffee prices don’t fall, so new favorable market solutions need to be created so that sustainability isn’t at the mercy of market’s volatility.

Education programs, trust, and more funds are all needed to convince farmers of using sustainable methods, and companies of respecting workers’ human rights, wages, and working conditions. If you want to do something about it, stay informed and keep educating other people. Support brands that bet for coffee sustainability and make sure that, in the meantime, they also worry about farmers and workers. Support legislation and international treats that understand the importance of sustainability. If we want to live in a world where coffee continues to be a beverage we can all enjoy without destroying the lands that give it to us, we must act!

Sustainable production is especially important in developing countries.

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That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

Facebook: That Coffee Roasters

Instagram: thatcoffeeroasters