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Coffee

Coffea arabica

Arabica coffee is a glossy evergreen shrub from the African highlands that bears fragrant white flowers and red cherries holding the coffee beans. In South Florida it grows well as a small, shade-tolerant yard or container plant, and a few plants give enough beans to roast at home.

Tree facts

Scientific name
Coffea arabica
Origin
Highlands of southeastern Ethiopia
Tree size
Up to 50 ft in the wild; 6–15 ft as a garden shrub, usually pruned to 4–6 ft
Growth rate
Fast
Sun
Light to moderate shade suits it best; full sun gives more beans but needs more water and fertilizer.
Soil
Well-drained soil rich in organic matter, kept evenly moist but never soggy (overwatering rots the roots). Plant on a mound where water stands after rain.
Soil pH
Slightly acid to neutral is best; tolerates well-drained alkaline soil
Pollination
Self-fertile; a single arabica plant sets fruit. (Robusta coffee needs a second plant to cross-pollinate.)
Cold hardiness
Damaged or killed by freezes; steady temperatures near 41°F cause leaf drop, and heat above 86°F scorches leaves
USDA zones
10–11
Years to first fruit
3–4 after planting
Water
About every 7 days once established, without rain; more in heat, in pots and while young
Feeding
About every 60 days, Feb–Sep
Pruning
May–Jul
Taste
The beans taste like coffee only after drying and roasting; flavor depends on the roast
Nutrition
Brewed coffee has almost no calories; its main active ingredient is caffeine, about 95 mg per 8-oz cup

Is coffee safe to eat? Edible and toxic parts

What you can eat

  • Seeds (beans), dried and roasted for brewing

Toxic parts and cautions

  • Take care: The beans contain caffeine. Roasted beans and brewed coffee can cause a racing heart, jitters and poor sleep in sensitive people and children.
  • Good to know: Mowers and string trimmers easily wound the thin trunk. Keep a grass-free mulched ring around the plant.

Pets: Coffee beans, grounds and brewed coffee contain caffeine, which is toxic to dogs and cats (restlessness, vomiting, racing heart, tremors). No reliable data on the leaves; keep pets from chewing the plant.

How to eat and enjoy coffee

  • Home-roasted coffee
  • Coffee in desserts and drinks
  • A fragrant flowering hedge or patio container

When it's ripe

Pick cherries one by one as they turn from green to red. Wash them (good ones sink), squeeze out the pulp, soak the beans in water about a day, rinse, dry in the sun, rub off the papery hull, then roast.

Storing it

Dried, roasted beans keep for weeks in a cool, dry place or the refrigerator.

Pests and diseases to watch for

  • Scale insects

    Small bumps, waxy or shell-like, on stems and leaf veins; sticky honeydew and black sooty mold below.

    What to do: Scrub small colonies off with a soft brush.

  • Mealybugs

    White cottony clusters in leaf joints, under leaves and on fruit stems; honeydew and sooty mold.

    What to do: Blast off with a strong spray of water.

  • Aphids

    Clusters of tiny soft insects on new shoots; leaves curl and get sticky.

    What to do: Spray off with water.

  • Sooty mold

    Black, papery film on leaves and fruit that wipes off; it grows on honeydew.

    What to do: Control the insects making honeydew; the mold then weathers away.

  • Spider mites

    Fine pale speckling on leaves, dusty undersides and fine webbing; leaves bronze and drop.

    What to do: Hose the undersides of leaves.

Growing coffees? Let Yardkin keep track.

Yardkin tells you when your coffee needs water based on your local weather, reminds you to feed and prune in season, and keeps every harvest and photo.

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General guidance, not medical or veterinary advice. Poison Control (US): 1-800-222-1222. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435.