If you have got a coffee sapling, it is quite easy to grow coffee tree in a flat. But growing of these seedlings is connected with a number of difficulties. As I already knew, coffee beans should be planted straight away after harvesting. So I got two berries, peeled them from outer red skin, washed carefully and planted into the flowerpots. The care was up to the mark. But they have been staying for two, three and even five months, and I had not got any results. Then I digged out the ground and saw that they were off and away – beans were simply rotted.
By that time my friends had already ripe berries on the other coffee bush, and again I got a pair of them (at that, one of them had two grains, however it should be only one). Now I decided to deal with them in such a way as I have done with seeds of tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins. I put them on a humid filter (toilet) paper into the Petri dish. The seeds were absolutely fresh, but during the observation (about two months) I have not noticed any changes, like swelling, point of sprouting, etc.
Then I made up my mind to seed scarification – the artificial crippling of outer skin. And here has happened something unexpected. I could flay the yellow filmy husk from the seeds which thickness was nearly 0,5ml. At first I have done it with one of the seeds and I was surprised, when just after this operation I saw germination signs already in two days! Of course I have done the same with a rest of seeds and they also germed.
In two years there were already some ripe coffee berries. It must be understood that flowers and fruits usually appear on tertiary branches. With these seeds I treated more sensible. After peeling, the beans were placed into a Petri dish. I looked after them for a week but did not notice any germination signs. Then I took away the husk from the beans and saw white points – places of rootlets. Later on the same day I peeled other beans and in 10 days I saw again typical white points, and in some more days arised rootlets.
After that, beans were planted into the glasses, and after a while have appeared some seedlings (on the germ in the right glass have burst cotyledonous leaves – equally removed from coffee leaves). It is interesting, but in the voluminous literature on coffee growing you will not find anything about this peculiarity (protective skin). It is reasonable that in nature for the germination of coffee seeds, they need to get into the birds bowels, where this notorious skin dissolves (we know this fact by the example of some other plants).
After getting the germs, a care of them is quite easy – good breathable soil, timely watering, additional fertilizing, sufficient lighting. In that case your plants will surprise you not only with flavored flowers and bright berries, but also with very beautiful glossy deep-green leaves.
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Tags: coffee bean, coffee trees
