In this post, I’m going to document my journey from planting viable, raw coffee beans until the first stages when they start coming up and become official coffee tree seedlings.
Traditional coffee you drink goes by the scientific name of Coffea Arabica.
Coffee takes a bit longer to germinate as they have a protective coating surrounding the main seed.
I’m going to test two different groups of coffee seeds. The first group will be unaltered, the second group has had their outer shell partially to removed to hopefully speed
up the germination process.
The coffee bean/seeds I order from a company called The Banana Tree in Easton, Pennsylvania. I’ve been buying from them for years and they have an amazing variety of plants/seeds. Just about anything tropical or exotic.
It has been a few years since I have attempted to grow coffee plants, so I’m going to revisit my old notes and memory and provide a guide to help you successfully grow your own coffee.
So as mentioned, the first thing you will need to do is order some seeds. There may be other companies out there, including Amazon & eBay, but give my best recommendation to The Banana Tree.
When you visit their site, they have several beans to choose from. The most common one is Coffea Arabica. Kona Coffee is another good one to try. If you are a first time coffee grower, I would recommend ordering about 100 of Coffea Arabica and 100 of Kona Coffee.
Currently received my order of 100 Coffea Arabica and Kona Coffee and have just planted them in a small greenhouse.
It is also possible you may be able to get viable seeds from a local coffee roaster. Ask for raw, non roasted seeds for growing coffee plants.
Viability with a coffee bean doesn’t last too long, so best to plant as soon as possible.
When planting in a greenhouse, you will want to use a well drained soil and plant about 3/4″ down. Keep warm and damp and in bright light.
If you have to move indoors, you may want to consider a heating mat to place underneath your mini greenhouse terrarium.
Try to keep the soil temperature somewhat stable – around 75-79 degrees Fahrenheit/24-26 degrees Celsius.
Don’t drench the soil, but don’t let it get too dry either.
If you have a small greenhouse which you can see in the photo to the left, they come with a clear plastic lid which helps keep moisture in, reducing the amount of watering needed.
To Be Continued….
We’re in first phase and will be updating this post with more information and latest photos from our coffee plant growing experiment.
From my estimate hopefully the seeds will start to sprout in July sometime. I plant to run a test on one section to see if I can accelerate the germination process.
Update (July 23, 2020) – I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board and start this process all over again as none of the coffee beans germinated. Part of this is my fault as the current world circumstances (that we’ve all been enjoy so much!) threw a wrench into my plans.
It has been many years since I first grew coffee, but remember getting the best results by having a fairly stable and controlled environment. I have several coffee beans left but since they take so long to germinate, will order a fresh batch so I won’t have to wonder if they have lost viability. 😱
Perhaps I’ll plant my old seeds in one big container and grow the new seeds in a strict environment. If any of the old seeds germinate, I’ll do a giveaway here. Maybe in time for Christmas? Stay tuned… 🙂
Bookmark this post and feel free to contact us if you would like to add any tips for growing coffee plants from seed.