How to Grow Your Own Coffee Tree

If you're patient and can wait three or four years for a few coffee beans, you may enjoy growing a coffee tree. Otherwise, grow the coffee plant for its fragrant blooms and clusters of shiny green foliage. The coffee plant, typically grown in high-altitude tropical climates, will reach full production when the plant is about 6 years old. Although coffee plants can live as long as 60 years, prime bean production continues for only about 10 years. Most of the world's coffee is harvested from Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora.

• 1

  Purchase a coffee tree at a greenhouse or nursery. Most nursery-grown coffee trees will be planted in 1- to 3-gallon containers, and will be about 2 feet tall. Avoid larger coffee plants grown in smaller containers, as the plant may be root bound.

• 2

  Prepare a spot for the coffee plant. Although coffee will grow in full sun or light shade, the ideal planting site is under the canopy of a tall tree, where the plant will be exposed to moderate or filtered light. Select a spot where the soil drains well and the plant won't be exposed to cold wind.

• 3

  Use a rototiller or spade to remove any grass. Turn and cultivate the soil in a circular area 3 to 10 feet in diameter. Dig a hole three times the depth of the coffee plant's container, and three to four times as wide.

• 4

  Add a small amount of excavated soil to the bottom of the hole. Remove the plant from the container, then place the plant in the hole. The plant's soil level should be the same as the ground soil level. Adjust the soil in the hole to bring the plant to the proper level. Don't add fertilizer at planting time.

• 5

  Water the coffee plant immediately after planting, then keep the soil evenly moist at all times, but never soggy. Decrease watering during January and February, keeping the soil just barely moist. Resume normal watering when the plant blooms in March or April.

• 6

  Fertilize the coffee plant in March, May, July and September, using 1/8 to 1/4 cup of an all-purpose, granular fertilizer.