How to Grow a Coffee Plant: Brew Joy from the Soil Up!

Ever wondered how to grow a coffee plant in your own house or garden as a mini coffee paradise?. Growing your coffee is no dream; it's a green-thumb reality! If you want to grow coffee plants from seed or want to know how to plant a coffee tree, you've come to the right place (and it's way easier than getting a perfect espresso shot).

Coffee Plant Cultivation - Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Know Your Bean — Coffee Plant Basics

Now that we have set the stage on how to plant coffee beans, let me also give you a little background regarding this fantastic crop. Coffee comes from that Coffea plant, a tropical diva that adores warmth, moisture, and a lot of tender love and care. When planting a coffee plant, there are two types, specific, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is smooth and prefers cooler, higher altitudes, whereas Robusta is a little bit stronger and a bit rebellious as it grows in warmer climates.

Read next: Arabica vs Robusta

Step 2: Growing Coffee Plants from Seed

Ready to begin? This is quite exciting! Growing coffee plants from seeds is an ordeal for patient gardeners. A tip, however: use fresh green coffee beans that are unroasted. Sadly, any roasted beans you adore from your local cafe are not going to sprout. 

• Soak your seeds in water for 24 hours. 

• Prepare a soil mix with good drainage properties (sand, compost, and loamy soil work well). 

• Plant seeds just beneath the surface and keep the soil consistently moist-but not waterlogged. 

• Place the pot in a warm, humid location with indirect sunlight. 

Voila! With much love and care, you will be seeing sprouts in 2 or 3 months. That's right, coffee takes its own sweet time, just like waiting for a barista on a busy morning!

Step 3: Coffee Plant Growing Conditions

It is true, your little plant baby is now growing and thriving, so let's make sure it grows. Conditions in growing coffee plants are pretty specific, but manageable.

• Light: It likes indirect sunlight. A good analogy would be to provide a nice shade for your plant, much like at a picnic during the summer.

• Temperature: 18-24 degrees Celsius (64-75 degrees Fahrenheit) is the temperature range kept; in short, this is the temperature ideal for a coffee plant--if it's comfortable for you, it is for coffee.

• Humidity: It loves the atmosphere around it. It might enjoy being misted or having a humidifier set close by.

Step 4: How to Take Care of a Coffee Plant

Recovering and nurturing a coffee plant with attention, affection, and water (but not too much!) is indeed like nurturing a friendship.

• Watering: Water your essence of coffee with slightly moist soil; drown it with water, and you risk root rot. Too little, and your plant could throw a tantrum-wilt.

• Fertilizing: Fertilize the plant every 2-3 weeks with a balanced fertilizer during the growing season, which is spring and summer.

• Pruning: Prune your coffee plant every so often to encourage business and compact growth. It ensures fresh growth while allowing good air circulation.

Step 5: How to Plant a Coffee Tree Outdoors

If you're fortunate enough to live in a tropical or subtropical zone, go ahead and move your plant outdoors! 

• Choose a partly shaded spot away from direct strong sunlight. 

• Make sure the soil is quite rich, well-drained, and slightly acidic. 

• Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball, place your plant, then backfill it gently. 

• Water well and mulch to retain moisture. 

Easy as pie! Now you have become a master of planting a coffee tree like a pro.

Bonus: How to Plant Coffee Beans in Minecraft

Okay, but we still have our virtual gardeners. Bad news if you've been Googling how to plant coffee beans in Minecraft, coffee plants don't exist in vanilla Minecraft. Well, if you have some farming mods, such as there is "Pam's HarvestCraft," you can virtually grow your coffee, as well! There is no need for a watering can; just your gaming thumbs.

Final Sip of Advice

Coffee cultivation is a splendid hobby for many aficionados of the daily brew, enjoying the beauty that could be provided by such plants. Though you would water coffee plants on your sunny windowsill or tend your backyard coffee grove, once you start, you should also remember, patience has to be exercised here. After a couple of years, they may not bear fruit much, but the joy from drinking a cup from beans grown by you is not something easily measured.

Well, now that you know how to grow a coffee plant, it's time to go grab your gardening gloves and get going, because who knows? For all you know, your next harvest could turn out to be the best cup of coffee you'll ever taste!