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Plant · P-934
Coffee Arabica
Coffea arabica
Coffee arabica is an evergreen shrub or small tree grown for its seeds roasted and brewed as coffee; naturally an understory tree of high-elevation humid tropical forest and does best in light shade with shading improving shoot growth though it reduces root development. Wants warm frost-free conditions with an optimal 14-28 C and tolerates 10-34 C; a short one-to-two month dry spell of under 50 mm rain per month helps trigger uniform flowering against an otherwise steady 1400-2300 mm annual rainfall. Needs deep friable well-drained soil - stiff clay and sandy soils are both unsuitable - in the pH 5.5-7 range with a wider 4.3-8.4 tolerance reported. Naturally reaches 3-10 m but cultivated and pruned plantings are usually kept to 2-5 m for hand picking. Propagated from seed sown within two months of harvest or by cuttings air layering and budding.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 10–11
- Soil
- Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Sub-Canopy- Soil pH
- 5.5–7
- Plant type
- Evergreen Tree
- Mature height
- 6–15 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–15 ft
- Plant spacing
- 6–12 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- None
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
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