Caring for the coffee plant: fertilizing, watering & cutting

Coffee is not only a popular drink, the coffee plant is also increasingly finding its way into our home and bringing fresh green into the apartment.

So that the plant grows lush, produces lots of green leaves and maybe even coffee cherries, the Coffee plant good care. This includes various measures that should not be neglected. A suitable location for your coffee plant is just as important. Here's how to make plants like that Coffea arabica properly maintain.

Caring for the coffee plant: water it correctly

Coffee plants prefer water with little lime, preferably in the form of rainwater. The earth should be constantly moist, so never dry out, but also not wet it. Check with your finger whether the surface is dry and whether you need to water the coffee plant. In summer the water requirement is higher than in winter due to more light and warmth.

Tip: In addition to watering, the coffee plant should be sprayed regularly with lime-free water, as it loves high humidity.

Fertilize the coffee plant

So that the coffee plant grows healthily and produces beautiful leaves, flowers and fruits, a complete fertilizer, i.e. a fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, is recommended. If you also use a slow release fertilizer, the nutrients last a long time and you don't have to re-fertilize over and over again. For example, ours is well suited Plantura organic universal fertilizer, which provides the coffee plant with all nutrients for at least three months. You simply work our organic fertilizer into the substrate, where the nutrients are gradually released. If you use a slow release fertilizer, you should fertilize the coffee plant in early spring so that enough nutrients are available to it during the growing season. In the case of large plants and older soil, you can re-fertilize three months after the first fertilization. To do this, carefully work the fertilizer into the soil or simply put it under the mulch layer. The plant is then poured vigorously.

If you prefer to use a liquid fertilizer, you should add fertilizer to larger coffee plants about every two weeks during the growing season via the irrigation water.

Can you fertilize coffee plants with coffee grounds? The coffee plant can also be grown twice a year, that is, once in winter and once in spring fertilize with coffee grounds. This should be dry and properly incorporated into the soil. One to two teaspoons of coffee grounds are absolutely sufficient. It slightly acidifies the substrate and still contains some nutrients that the plant can absorb. However, it cannot replace a complete fertilizer.

Cutting back: when and how often?

Although not necessary, you can prune back the coffee plant to give it a branchy and bushy look. Prune the coffee tree in the spring before you start fertilizing. Completely remove old, dead, and bare branches. Leaves that grow directly from the lower part of the stem can also be removed. You should cut off the healthy shoots above a leaf knot. If you want to limit the growth in height, you can also cut off the main shoot. The coffee plant will then branch out and grow wider. A pruning can be done about every one to two years. At the same time, so-called water bullets should also be removed if necessary. These are young shoots that grow dead straight and vertically out of the old wood. For example, they often sprout from the side of the trunk. You can use the cut off shoots to propagate the coffee plant.

Repot the coffee plant

There are several reasons why you should repot your coffee plant regularly. Is the pot too small and the roots are already growing out of the soil or the drainage hole? Can the substrate no longer be watered well, but is it encrusted on the surface? Or has the coffee tree almost stopped growing despite fertilization? Then it's time to repot. This is usually the case every two to three years. Use spring to repot, as the coffee plant can then start the growing season with fresh soil and nutrients.

• Choose a slightly larger and, above all, deep pot with a drainage hole that offers enough space for the roots
• Put a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot, for example made of stones or expanded clay.
• This is followed by a layer of substrate. The coffee plant needs a slightly acidic and humus-rich soil. Our Plantura organic potting soil For example, it is extremely suitable because it contains a lot of organic matter and its pH value of 6.5 is in the appropriate range. By mixing in 20% broken expanded clay, the permeability of the earth can be increased even further.
• Free the coffee plant from its old pot, remove the substrate from the root ball and cut off any noticeable rotten or dry roots.
• Then place the coffee plant in the new pot and fill in the gaps with soil. At the end it is poured on.

Common diseases: Brown leaves on the coffee plant

Like almost all indoor plants, the coffee plant can occasionally be attacked by diseases and pests. In most cases, incorrect location or inadequate care measures are the cause of leaf discoloration.

• Brown leaves: If only the tips of the leaves are brown, this is a sign that the air is too dry - the In this case, the coffee plant should be placed in a more humid room or sprayed with water more frequently will.
  If whole leaves first turn yellow and then brown, waterlogging and the associated root rot is the most likely Cause - This can be remedied by swiftly repotting in fresh soil including a drainage layer and more economical watering behavior.
  Over-fertilization with mineral fertilizers can also cause yellow chlorosis. Acute over-fertilization is remedied by vigorous watering, during which the substrate is completely rinsed through several times - or also by rapid repotting.
  More rarely, the anthracnose disease caused by fungi is responsible for brown spots on the leaves.
• YellowLeaves: A coffee plant with yellow leaves usually suffers from a lack of nutrients. Iron deficiency often occurs: the leaf veins remain green in the case of iron deficiency, while the rest of the leaf takes on a light yellow color. This discoloration is also called intercostalChlorosis. Iron deficiency usually occurs when water that is too lime-rich is poured. Then it should be repotted and poured with rainwater from now on. A lack of magnesium, nitrogen, or sulfur can also cause yellow leaves. In this case you should fertilize with a complete fertilizer - even better, the plant is repotted. Even with waterlogging, the leaves first turn yellow before turning brown.
• Pests: It can happen that the coffee plant is infected by pests such as Scale insects, Mealybugs or Spider mites is infested. You can see the pests with the naked eye and collect them from the plant. Often, weakened plants are attacked in the winter months when the air is too dry. So, put bowls of water on the heater to improve the air for the plants, or use the spray bottle regularly.
  Unfortunately love too Sciarid gnats the always moist soil of the coffee plant. For example our Plantura Sciarid Mosquito Free Neem help. The natural active ingredient is obtained from the seeds of the neem tree and reliably combats fungus gnats in a biological way.

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