i have a coffee plant that is recently starting to decline in health. some leaves are turning brow, and have patchy spots on them. however! the tops of the plants are doing great. the leaves are glossy green and appear to be in perfect condition. i am wondering if i should cut the tops off and try and repot them and grow them new, or if i should keep doing what im doing, and hope the problem will fix itself. is it easy to re-root a coffee plant if i have a stem about in inch long with 3 to 4 leaves on it? thanks for your help, nik
Can you post a picture of your plants? It may be a natural ageing thing, or an over- or under-watering thing, or a too much or too little sunlight thing, or a temperature thing, or a root-bound thing, but without seeing it, it will be hard to diagnose and fix.
I would not be too concerned if only a few of the bottom most leaves are being shed on an otherwise healthy looking tree. That seems to be normal for the ones I'm growing. Should you decide to propagate by cutting, one book suggests using a tip cutting taken in the summer.
Hello! My thoughts are (with help from the houseplant expert!) that it's either a too much water situation or too little humidity. Do you mist it with warm water at all? According to this site http://www.kupajoe.com/espressocafe/plants.htm coffee plants like 90% humidity but I think it depends what variety you have so you might want to check yourself.... How much do you water your plant? Apparentely (http://www.thegardenhelper.com/coffee.html) they like moist soil at all times but not soggy! Hope that helps:)
Nothing wrong with those plants from my point of view. My parent tree (25-30 years old... I forget) and its progeny, 3 years or so old, all look pretty much the same as yours. Youngsters are probably suffering from low winter light, and the old one is undoubtedly root bound. Its going to take a forklift to repot it though. Still and all, there are cherries ripening on it. I'd leave them alone if they were mine. Carl Postscript: Run a search of coffee plant on these forums. There's a photo of my old one here somewhere.
i am going to see what happens with the plant. its good to know that you also have a plant under some stress, but still producing some flowers and beans. if i can ask (if you remember,) how long have your plants looked similar to mine, and have you done anything to try and correct this? thanks for the help, nik ** pinenut ** i just saw your pic of the coffee plant. congrads on the plant is looks amazing, much better than mine does
[QUOTE if i can ask (if you remember,) how long have your plants looked similar to mine, and have you done anything to try and correct this? [/QUOTE] They've looked that way almost forever, and no, I don't do much to correct anything other than to feed them when I feel guilty, or move them when they're blocking the view. The parent plant is not fond of its new location, but its still alive and well. Actually I did aim a couple of compact fluorescents at its shady side. Its former home had windows to the east and the south, and the new spot only has a window to the east. No idea if the additional light does any good or not, but my conscience feels better. They're all pretty thirsty. Carl
Pinenut - the extra light is definitely helping them. Here in Ecuador, coffee is mostly shade-grown - but that's bright shade, so if they're in a darker corner they will definitely appreciate the CFs. And you're right. I have never met a thirstier plant than C. arabica. I have four established trees and about a dozen young plants, all of which have a bit of the dieback that thewad88 is seeing so I can only assume it's normal.
I would say there is room for improvement. What that may be, I do not know. The trees that I'm growing have leaves that look very similar to the ones seen in this picture. The newest ones are shiny while older ones slowly lose their shine as they age. The oldest leaves at the bottom have some browning at the leaf margin like that seen in the picture. One thing of note in thewad88's plant is the size differential between the new and older leaves, the former being much smaller. I'm referring to the ones that are dark green and more developed. They should be closer in size to the mature ones.
