Coffea arabica - this is the only one of the approximately 60 types of coffee that is suitable for making coffee. If you like, you can even bring the plant into your house.
Coffee bushes (Coffea arabica) develop flowers about three to four years after successful cultivation. Coffee beans are then also formed. A great natural spectacle! If you can't get enough of it, you can also multiply your coffee bushes. They can generally be propagated by cuttings and seeds. However, the propagation of cuttings has high failure rates, so that you as a hobby gardener should rather opt for sowing. It's also a lot easier.
How to propagate a coffee bush from seeds
❶ Use fresh seeds:
You have to buy the seeds of the coffee plant, also known colloquially as coffee beans, in gardening shops. The roasted "beans" from the supermarket are biologically dead and unfortunately cannot be used for propagation.
❷ Select pots and substrate:
Sow the coffee bush in ordinary seed pots the size of a yoghurt cup. The substrate must be loose and low in nutrients so that the seedlings quickly form many roots. You don't have to worry about the seedlings dying from lack of nutrients. The seeds provide the young plants for at least two months.
The pH value of the substrate is ideally in the slightly acidic to neutral range between 6 and 7. Peat, a peat-sand mixture or coconut soil are best suited as growing substrates for coffee plants.
❸ Fill up seed pots and sow coffee seeds:
Fill the seed pots about three quarters full with the substrate. Then put one seed per seed pot in the substrate and cover it loosely with a layer of soil. You don't have to press the soil with your fingers. Dampen the substrate with a spray bottle, but don't overdo it. The seeds must not lie in dripping wet soil.
❹ Germinate seeds in a warm place:
Then move the seed pots to a place with a temperature of at least 25°C. Do you haveIf no such place is available, a heatable mini or indoor greenhouse is an alternative.
Keep the coffee seeds slightly moist and permanently warm for the coming weeks. The germination time varies between 30 and 50 days depending on the conditions. As soon as the seedlings are visible, you need to provide enough light.
❺ Fertilize and repot:
Two months after germination, start fertilizing the coffee bushes once a week. You can take your time with the repotting. A new container is only required when the growing pots are completely rooted.
Don't get impatient if your coffee plant doesn't flower for the first two years. The snow-white, vanilla-scented inflorescences can only be expected from the third year.