Growing your own coffee plant is actually surprisingly easy! If you give it enough love (and the right nutrients), you might even find yourself harvesting your own homegrown coffee beans. However, these plants are a bit picky about their diet—they need plenty of nutrients, but the balance has to be just right.
The Perfect Nutrient Mix
Coffee plants have some specific cravings. One thing they absolutely hate? Lime. You’ll want to steer clear of any mineral fertilizers that contain calcium, as it can really mess with the plant’s health.
The “Big Five” nutrients your coffee plant needs are:
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Iron
- Manganese
I usually suggest being careful with mineral fertilizers. While coffee plants do need some minerals, it’s way too easy to overdo it and burn the roots. A pro tip: instead of heavy mineral feeding, just refresh the top layer of soil in your pot with some fresh substrate every now and then. Usually, the minerals found naturally in fresh soil are more than enough to keep your plant happy.
Spring and Summer Feeding Schedule
Around March, while your coffee plant is still hanging out in its winter spot, it’s time to start the feeding routine. This is when you’ll notice those first fresh leaves and shoots popping up. Aim to fertilize every three to four weeks. In the early spring, organic solid fertilizers work great, provided they break down relatively quickly. A plant-based NPK fertilizer is your best bet during this phase.
Once you see those first flower buds appearing, it’s time to switch to a liquid fertilizer mixed right into your watering can. During the blooming phase, the plant is working overtime and needs nutrients that are available immediately. If it’s been a while since you last repotted your plant, you might want to step it up to every two weeks. Come September, start scaling back so the plant can get ready for its winter nap.
Winter Rest Period
When winter hits, put the fertilizer away entirely. This is super important, especially if your winter setup isn’t 100% perfect. If a coffee plant gets too many nutrients during the dark winter months, it might start growing “leggy” or weak shoots. These spindly branches drain the plant’s energy, often causing it to drop a ton of leaves.
If that happens, your plant will spend all its energy next spring just trying to regrow leaves instead of producing those beautiful white flowers—and fewer flowers means fewer coffee beans for you!
