How to Plant Coffee Seeds

Overview

Serious coffee connoisseurs may never actually roast and brew the coffee they grow at home, but they may find the process of planting and growing coffee seeds in small containers interesting. When you plant coffee seeds, you can learn about how coffee plants grow and what is involved in nurturing these plants to maturity. The coffee-planting process begins with green coffee beans (unroasted coffee beans), which you can purchase online from several sources.

Step 1

Fill the small container with warm water, and soak the green coffee beans for 24 hours.

Step 2

Stack several paper towels on top of each other, and completely saturate them with water. Place the soaked coffee beans on half of the paper towels, and fold the other half over the coffee beans. Place in a protected area, making sure to keep the paper towels moist.

Step 3

Watch the progress of the coffee beans in the moistened paper towels. When you see that they have germinated, it is time to plant them in the containers.

Step 4

Fill the planting containers almost to the top with potting soil. Plant one germinated coffee bean into each planting container so that the flat side of the seeds is on the bottom. Cover the seeds lightly with approximately a half-inch of potting soil. Cover the top of the potting soil with a half-inch of shredded grass, if desired.

Step 5

Water the coffee beans every day to keep the soil evenly moist. Do not water to the point of over-saturation, however. Remove the shredded grass when you see the coffee beans sprout up through the soil.

Step 6

Place the coffee seedlings under the grow light after they sprout from the soil.

Step 7

Water the seedlings twice a week. Make one weekly watering a feeding time as well, and fertilize the coffee seedlings by mixing the orchid fertilizer with water according to package recommendations for the size of your containers.

Step 8

Transplant the coffee seedlings to larger containers when the plants become too large for their current containers. Coffee plants grow slowly, however, so this may not be necessary for many months.

Step 9

Expect a coffee plant that is at least 2 years old to flower if it is healthy and happy. The coffee beans these flowers will produce will not be of the same quality as coffee beans that are grown under professional conditions, however.