This video was exactly what I needed to see. I’m a long way north in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). I built a greenhouse addition last year and just got through the first winter with eight lemon trees all thriving. The oldest grew from a seed I planted 18 years ago and it’s just about to give me my first bunch of lemons so I thought I’d be brave and try coffee next. I had no trouble maintaining a temperature of at least 40 F through the worst of winter and daytime temperatures in the greenhouse usually got at least above 60 F even on the coldest days. From the beginning of March until almost Christmas it’s pretty much room temperature all the time so it’s good to hear that my new coffee experiment has a chance to work out alright. Thanks again for a great video!
Hi Randy, Beautiful arabica. People still saying we cant grow coffee in Florida. I also have several fruiting coffee plants. I am not selling any plants just experimenting with different varieties of coffee and grafting them also. Take care thumbs up!
I have been growing arabica bean coffee in NW Tampa since like 1990. If grown under large shade oak trees the trees can grow and thrive up 20 ft high but you should use the rule, when it reaches 10 ft high, cut back to 5 ft, smaller bushes produce far more coffee than big or tall trees. Apparently some coffee growers in St Pete won an award for growing exceptional quality $60 a pound artesian arabica coffee. Places with rich acidic soils within coastal belts which only go below 40 degrees once or twice a decade while close enough to the coast to avoid temperatures over 95 degrees is preferable. Florida grown coffee especially that grown in Tampa or Pinellas is extraordinarily smooth, lacks bitterness and can be among the earth's highest quality coffee. Try not to allow any fermentation of the fruit from the beans, that makes coffee beans terrible and why so many coffees are bitter. Here in Tampa the birds have gotten ahold of arabica bean coffee and it is becoming invasive weeds in wild areas and cypress swamps north of Tampa.
Hey Austin. Give it a shot. They'll love those pine needles. My tree is LOADED this year. Best crop so far. They are definitely sensitive to cold, but a little protection with a sheet on frost nights does the trick. Just make sure they don't get too much direct sun. Cheers!
Tea is much hardier. Tea has been commercially grown since the 19th century even in the mountains of Russia. Not in Siberia though, of course. I've actually decided to try to plant this Russian cultivar. I'll see what comes out.
Hey randy, I recently saw a citrus cocktail plant selling at Home Depot with lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit grafted on one plant! Pretty cool huh? Lol
+touge410 _ Yeah, those are cool. The thing is, that I won't be messing with any citrus until the citrus greening issue is solved. Any citrus tree you buy today will be dead in two or three years, so I wouldn't buy one. This reply only applies to people in Florida. If you are in California, you are still ok, but for how much longer? I don't know, but citrus greening will make its way there eventually too.
+Randy's Tropical Plants that makes sense why my citrus tree isn't growing at all, I bought it about 2 years ago though. The leaves bloom new green ones but they go bad in a week and dry up. Plus whenever it blooms tangerines it rains then it's hot outside and they crack lol!
Randy: Thank You for the fantastic video and great information. Can you tell me if there is a way to increase the sugars to the coffee bean to improve it's sweet flavor? Again Thank You.
The sugars are found in the pulp of the fruit, not in the seed. You can decrease bitterness by roasting more slowly and for longer as that drives off the caffeine which has a bitter flavor. Personally, I like the caffeine, so I roast very lightly. I also don't like the burned flavor of darker roasts. If I want it to be sweet, I add sugar or honey.
I have 5 tiny coffee plant that I transplanted into a black pot and water them with miracle gro fertilizer. After about a week I started to notice brown leaves showing and i found out it was over fertilizer. I try it and it doesn't work out for me. It continues to keep dying and doing worse over a 3 week period. I don't know what to do with my tiny coffee plant. I research to figure it out what is wrong with my plant and I found no answers. Can you please tell me what do to help my tiny coffee plants to be healthy again and grow strong every time
Florida wild coffee is NOT coffee. It is Psychotria nervosa, which can't be made into coffee. It's called that because it resembles a coffee plant (sort of). Thanks for sharing though.
Hey thank you for posting this, very helpful, I've been wanting to expand my little garden and desided buy coffee trees. There very small right now. I'm still learning about all the different layers of growing viable food producing plants. Do you have more info on the type of soil and what Thing I can use to make the soil addic for the plant. Also can I use used coffee grounds for the soil
Yes, you can use coffee grounds. Any organic matter that increases acidity is a good thing, unless your soil is already very acidic. Pine needles work well, pine bark nuggets work well too. I like oak leaves because I have lots of them, they work, and they are free for me. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I'm focusing more and more on edibles lately, so be sure to subscribe if you haven't already. Cheers!
Randy's Tropical Plants thank you for answering so fast. I actually live in Florida as well not far from Tampa. I was hoping to get your opinion because we basically live in the same place. I was watching a video and he was saying something about using crushed up volcanic rock in the soil, because the tree need lot of iron... Do you think that's necessary?
I really only bother with iron if I see chlorosis, and then I make sure that the problem is not something attacking the roots. Chlorosis is frequently a sign that the roots are damaged and cannot properly take up the nutrients the tree needs. Chlorosis can also be that the soil is too alkaline and that the iron is not in a form that is useable to the tree. If your soil is acidic enough, iron should be available to the plant. If the soil has been properly amended, and the roots are healthy, without root rot, or root mealy bugs attacking etc, then think about iron supplementation. In that case I personally use a chelated iron supplement. You can also use other mineral supplements, such as volcanic rock dust, but that will only work if the soil is acidic.
Yes I have five or six available now for 6.99. All around seven or eight inches tall. US sales only. email me at randystropicalplants@gmail.com if you are interested. I have LOTS of other plants available too.
