In the first and second parts of our series on growing coffee, we discussed getting started and how to plant both coffee cherries and green beans, and how to raise them to seedlings.
Once you’ve got your plants in pots and starting to flourish, you can sit back and watch them being to grow, although you could have a long wait!. Feed them with orchid food during the growing season and water them carefully, making sure they’re neither too dry nor too wet.
Coffee plants mature slowly, and a commercial plant takes three to four years before it’s fruiting properly. Unfortunately, with a plant grown in the UK, while it may possibly flower it’s unlikely ever to fruit properly as the plant prefers high altitude and other growing conditions that aren’t easily available here. Coffee plants can be grown successfully in the UK though, with the Royal Botanical Gardens having several healthy examples.
To try and encourage your plant to flower, wait until the beginning of winter and reduce watering significantly over the cold period for two or three months. Once the warmer weather starts in spring, start watering the plant well and continue to do so throughout the summer. If you choose an Arabica variety of coffee, the plant is self-fertilising so there’s no need to think about pollination,
Don’t forget that while it’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, you can certainly order it easily in the UK, and get the best quality beans from global suppliers. Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of blends and beans from green beans to espresso, all at great wholesale prices. In addition, we stock coffee ingredients such as flavoured syrups and accessories like cups, lids and stirrers. To find out more, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.