How to Grow Coffee From Cuttings

Mornings just wouldn't be the same without fresh, hot coffee. And what could be fresher than coffee made from beans out of your own garden? Growing coffee cuttings is not hard, and even if you don't like coffee the deep green leaves and sweet smelling white blossoms are a gorgeous addition to any patio or garden. You could grow coffee beans from seeds, but they can take 3 to 4 years to bear fruit. If you grow coffee cuttings, you can be picking, roasting, grinding and brewing your own beans in as few as 18 months.

Coffee plant

Scissors

Rooting hormone

2 pots, 4 to 6 inches, and 10 to 12 inches

Vermiculite

Perlite

Water

Plastic bag

Optional:

Plant heating mat

Cotton swabs

Rubbing alcohol

Choose a cutting from a live coffee plant that is 3/16 to 5/16 inches around, with at least 2 leaves. Use a very sharp scissors to snip it from the larger plant.

Pull off one of the leaves of the cutting and discard it. Cut the remaining leaf in half and throw away the half you snipped away.

Fill a plant pot with a mixture of half vermiculite and half perlite. Don't stress about measuring; just get it as close as you can.

Dampen the vermiculite and perlite mixture until it is about as wet as a well-squeezed sponge. If you actually squeezed the mixture in your hands to remove excess water, shake or stir it around to loosen so that it is not tightly compacted.

Dip the cut stem into rooting hormone, and swish it around for about 15 seconds. Use your index finger to poke a hole that is 2 to 3 inches deep in the potting mixture, and slip the cutting into it. Tap the potting mixture around the stem.

Place a plastic bag over the cutting. Put it in a warm place with diffused sunlight and keep it well watered. You also can use a plant-heating mat if you like.

Wait 30 to 45 days until roots and shoots have formed before removing the plastic bag.

Transplant healthy seedlings into larger pots once they have 4 to 6 leaves. This should take 6 to 8 months. Coffee plants grow deep roots, so use a pot that is at least 12 to 14 inches across.

Keep your coffee plant well-watered. Plant it in the ground when there is no longer a threat of frost, or move it to an even larger pot and set the pot outside during the warmer months.

Give coffee cuttings in beautiful pots as gifts to other coffee lovers.

Watch for mealy bugs in warm weather. If you see any, clean them off of the leaves with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.