Coffee Plant Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide
Coffee Plant For A Premium Quality Coffee
By Joel F Morningstar
Coffee plant is popularly grown all around the world. It is grown
in countries in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Central
America and the Caribbean.
Not many people know what a coffee plant looks like. All the
buyer sees when they buy their regular coffee from the store,
is the end product.
A lot of people would not know or have seen a coffee plant even
if they tripped over it on their next holiday to the Caribbean.
Do you know what the coffee plant looks like? Do you imagine
coffee beans bristling off the branches? Just how does it end
up as the tasty beverage we all love? The story of the coffee
plant is interesting indeed.
Origins in Africa
The coffee plant originated in Africa’s tropical forests. Some
say the first coffee drinker was an Ethiopian goat herder, who
upon noticing his herds’ frisky behavior following consumption
of the coffee berries, decided to try some for himself. The rest
is history.
Although there are about 25 species of the genus Coffea, only
two are grown commercially and destined for our coffee cups. These
two are the Arabica and Robusta
coffee plants.
Of the other species, some are available as indoor plants, more
as a conversation piece than anything else.
Arabica Coffee Plant
The Arabica coffee plant grows in a tree-like fashion, with a
single trunk, with branches growing outward from the central trunk.
The smaller of the two plants, the Arabica produces a superior
bean, richer in flavor and complexity of taste.
Robusta Coffee Plant
The Robusta coffee plant is more shrub-like in its appearance,
with many minor trunks. The beans of the Robusta coffee plant
lack the fine complex taste of the Arabica.
While the Robusta coffee bean contains more caffeine, it tends
to have bitter flavor notes which are generally undesirable.
If left unchecked, coffee plants grow well over 30 feet high.
To enable manageable harvesting, commercial growers prune the
plants to a height of just eight to fifteen feet.
Large, Dark Green Leaves
Coffee plants, grown in ideal conditions, have large, dark green
leaves, with a waxy surface, about four to six inches long and
about half as wide. The flowers are white, fragrant and are produced
in thick clusters along the branches.
It takes more than eight months from flowering to produce a ripe
coffee “cherry” suitable for harvest. The cherries usually contain
two beans.
Bright Red Hue
The cherry is ripe for picking when the cherry attains a bright
red hue. Coffee beans do not ripen all at once, so great attention
and several harvests are required to pick one tree’s bounty at
a state of perfection. This accounts, in great part,for the high
cost of the finished product.
This may be the reason why you don’t see many coffee plants
growing in the suburban backyard. They are difficult to grow and
maintain and then to get the coffee beans to the stage where you
can place them in a coffee grinder for your morning coffee, requires
quite a bit of effort.
You may find all the effort was not really worth it, as the whole
bean coffee you bought from the store tastes so much better.
Leave it to the experts, who have hundreds of years experience
in growing their coffee plants and making premium quality coffee
beans from their best range of coffee plant.
About the Author:
Joel F Morningstar has written a number of articles on gardening
including Miniature
Fruit Trees, Pepper
Plant, Stone
Walkway, Lawn
Swing, Backyard
Landscaping, Front
Yard Landscape, Fast
Growing Trees, Big
Backyard, Decorate
A House, Deck
Ideas, Asphalt
Paving, Swing
Set Backyard, Backyard
Fountain, Home
Decor Furnishings, Outdoor
Decor, Patio
Garden, Furniture,
Lawn
And Garden, Design
Landscaping, Lawn
Care, The
Landscape, The
Lawn, Lawn
Garden.
Keep a lookout for more of his articles on this website.
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