Coffea arabica as a glossy, dark-leaved houseplant. Give it a bright, humid room and in a few years it flowers white and sets red cherries — not enough to brew, but enough to show off.
The coffee plant is a small understory tree from the Ethiopian highlands, and as a houseplant it is all about the foliage: deep green, glossy, rippled leaves in neat opposite pairs on an upright stem that reaches three or four feet indoors. Mature plants in a bright room produce fragrant white flowers along the stems and then the red “cherries” that hold the beans. Growing your own cup is a novelty; growing a handsome plant is the real reward.
It is more particular than a pothos but not difficult: bright indirect light, steady moisture, and more humidity than the average Arizona living room — which usually means a kitchen or bathroom window. The rest of the bench is on our Houseplants page.
This is the coffee plant we commonly carry. Availability changes week to week and season to season, so call (480) 987-3308 or stop in to see what’s on the bench today.
Glossy, wavy-edged dark green leaves on an upright, branching plant. Sold at about a foot tall; grows to three or four feet indoors over several years and flowers once mature. Bright indirect light, even moisture, humidity.
Looking for one that isn’t listed? Ask — we can usually suggest a close match or tell you when it tends to come around.
The care tag was written somewhere else. This is the Queen Creek version.
Coffee grows under taller trees in nature and wants the same indoors: bright, indirect light near an east window, or south light filtered through a sheer. Direct sun through Arizona glass scorches the leaves brown in patches. Too little light and it grows slowly, leggy and never flowers. Rotate the pot every couple of weeks.
Coffee wants 50 percent humidity or more, roughly double what our houses provide. Brown, crisping leaf edges are the signal. Group it with other plants, stand it on a pebble tray, run a humidifier nearby, or give it a bright bathroom or kitchen window. Keep it out of the airflow from air-conditioning and heater vents. Indoors it grows fastest in the humid monsoon months.
Expect flowers from a plant three or four years old in good light: small, jasmine-scented white blooms along the stems in spring, followed by green cherries that ripen red over several months. A houseplant yields a few dozen beans a year — a curiosity, not a supply. Pinch the top in spring to keep it bushy.
Keep the soil evenly moist: water when the top inch is dry, which is every four to six days in summer indoors and weekly in winter. It wilts dramatically when it dries out and drops leaves if it happens often. A well-draining, slightly acidic mix in a pot with a hole keeps the roots from sitting wet. Filtered or rain water avoids the brown leaf edges our hard tap water causes.
An acidic, rich mix — potting mix blended with peat or coco coir and some perlite. Feed a balanced liquid fertilizer at half strength every three to four weeks from March through October; an acid-loving-plant fertilizer every couple of months helps counter our alkaline water. Repot every two years in spring.
Leaves, cherries and beans are toxic to cats and dogs (caffeine). Spider mites and mealybugs turn up in dry air; rinse the foliage monthly and treat with insecticidal soap. Outdoors, a shaded, sheltered patio in spring and fall only; it has no frost tolerance and hates dry wind.
Yellowing, spots, no new growth — snap a photo of the plant and its window and we’ll diagnose it at the bench. Advice is free.
We stock indoor potting mix, orchid bark and perlite for the chunky blends aroids and epiphytes want, balanced houseplant fertilizers, insecticidal soap and neem for the usual mealybug and mite visits, and moss poles, hoops and saucers. The pottery yard has terracotta, glazed and lightweight pots from 4-inch up, plus hanging baskets and cache pots.
Indoors, yes — as a houseplant in a bright, humid room. It cannot live outside here through summer or winter. A mature plant flowers and sets a handful of cherries each year, enough for curiosity rather than a cup.
Dry air, usually with hard-water salts adding to it. Raise the humidity with a pebble tray or humidifier, keep it away from vents, and switch to filtered water or flush the pot regularly.
When the top inch of soil is dry, every four to six days in summer indoors and weekly in winter. Keep it evenly moist; it drops leaves if it dries out repeatedly.
No. The leaves, cherries and beans contain caffeine and are toxic to cats and dogs. Keep it out of reach.
Usually at three to four years old, in spring, if it gets bright indirect light and steady care. Flowers are white and fragrant; cherries follow and ripen red over several months.
Bright indirect light — near an east window or filtered south light. Direct sun scorches it; a dim room keeps it small and flowerless.
Coffee Plant live on the houseplant bench; any staff member can point you to them. Locally owned, and a short drive from San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa.