bananimal

This was sold to me as a “Cuban Coffee”. Have not found a pic of it in several searches.

It’s in decline right now but survived the 2 cold snaps from Dec and Jan. Today we hit 95F!

The seed pods don't look like the Arabica and the leaves definitely don’t match.

Does any one recognize it?

Richard

Dan,

Coffee would prefer to grow in zone 10b at a minimum, and grows in 11a with no problems. Nonetheless, I'm growing it here in zone 10a. The young seedlings need protection from sub-35F temperatures, otherwise you'll get a lot of leaf drop. I keep mine huddled tightly with several other plants next to the house during the "winter" here. Also, they really hate being soggy and cold at the same time. Larger plants with 3+ inch diameter trunk and a well-established root system will over-winter here just fine but have been known to drop all their leaves in the rare event of temperatures dropping below 30F for a few hours (for example in the freeze of 2007).

The berries disappearing without a trace is a pest problem of some sort. They are great tasting, so I can't fault the local wildlife for wanting to take them away.

Coffee does not come true from seed. The seedlings can have a hint of the parent plant characteristics but most often the beans will have a flavor characteristic of the Coffea species grown in the local environment. Most coffee is Coffea arabica but there are others. The minerals in the soils and the local temperatures are key. This is one reason coffee companies advertise location, location, location. Another factor is fertilizer: the major agricultural fertilizer suppliers have several custom formulas for coffee growers depending on their soil and the desired outcomes of the plants. Finally, greatest determinator for the taste of coffee is the roast; i.e., great beans + lousy roasting job = lousy coffee.

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