Growing coffee

[flynnaus]

Re: Growing coffee

bad news 2
one of my trees is wilting. i dont know whether its nematodes in the roots or fusarium wilt.

Probably roots, AM: wilting and brown spots. Sounds like it if your other plant is now recovering.

Fusarium wilt should show significant yellowing of the leaves before they start wilting. Nematodes often show up as significant stunting of the plant before you see symptoms such as wilting.

If you are over-watering and drainage is poor, the roots die off and the plant has no means of taking up water. Removing the fruit will help as its survival technique is to throw its reserves into reproducing itself when under duress.

Planting marigolds around the base might help deal with the nematodes if your garden has that problem but this is usually advised a few months before planting any susceptible species.
Try this site but you might want to consult a specialist.

[tonyt]

Re: Growing coffee

Removing the fruit will help as its survival technique is to throw its reserves into reproducing itself when under duress.

thanks for the info flynn. i picked a kilo of cherries today from that tree, but theres still a lot left. ill take them all off tomorrow and give the tree a bit of a chance.

[A_M]

Re: Growing coffee

My trees are now all bare and starting to bud with new leaves...

Others around the area are full of flowers  ?


However I did stumble across this and worth the 10min to have a read - prior to picking the next crop...


Coffee cherry

[Thundergod]

Re: Growing coffee

I noticed a few new leaves today just starting to form.

I also picked a few more ripe cherries the other day that had been hiding.

Today I was having a play with some of the picked cherries; they are in varying stages of drying.
I found the completely dried ones difficult to peel so then tried some that had a little moisture still in them.
Enough to be able to squeeze and pop the beans out.

I found my first peaberry!
Then a startling find; the peaberrys unborn twin.
Ive never read anywhere that the non formed bean remains but just undeveloped.

What I found was a wafer thin unformed bean.
You can see the line down the middle but its flat as.

I hope the attached picture shows enough detail.

[Presso]

Re: Growing coffee

My trees are now all


However I did stumble across this and worth the 10min to have a read - prior to picking the next crop...


Coffee cherry

David has done some great research for the ASTCA. He is passionate about distributing his research too!

Did you see our latest newsletter?
http://issuu.com/astca/docs/oct10

[Luke_G]

Re: Growing coffee

Re: Growing coffee
Reply #228 - 15. Oct 2010 at 19:00  I noticed a few new leaves today just starting to form.

I also picked a few more ripe cherries the other day that had been hiding.

Today I was having a play with some of the picked cherries; they are in varying stages of drying.
I found the completely dried ones difficult to peel so then tried some that had a little moisture still in them.
Enough to be able to squeeze and pop the beans out.

I found my first peaberry!
Then a startling find; the peaberrys unborn twin.
Ive never read anywhere that the non formed bean remains but just undeveloped.

What I found was a wafer thin unformed bean.
You can see the line down the middle but its flat as.

You will find that in most peaberrys TG. Its the unlucky bean whos sibling stole all the nutrients from.

Just an update for my crop(?) this year.....
I finished pulling the last few straglers a couple of weeks ago and i now have a grand total of 2.8kgs lol

We had a LOT of rain over the past couple of months and that has forced some early flowering. All flower buds are forming already and i have had a bit of random blooming.

Ill take a picture tomorrow after work and post them up.

[Thundergod]

Re: Growing coffee

Thanks Luke.

My trees are showing signs of lots of new growth.
I wonder how large the second crop will be.

[tonyt]

Re: Growing coffee

well, i had a fairly good season from my four trees here in newcastle. i got about 18 kilos of cherry, same as two years ago, but lost a lot from the tree that started dying, so it would have been more.

but the tree died - despite a lot of tlc. now im seeing the same symptoms in a small seedling next in the line. couldnt see anything in the roots of the dead tree that indicated nematodes, so i suppose it is FUSARIUM XYLORIOIDES wilt. if it is, thats the end of my plantation. the remedy recommended at this site
http://www.cofei.com/from-crop-to-cup/coffee-plant-diseases.html
is to dig up the affected tree and surrounding trees, plus all the soil, take it all away and burn it back to hell. in a four-tree plantation thats doomsday. i dont grow tomatoes here because of fuserium wilt. maybe its the same thing.

if they all die ill be sad, but its been an interesting experience.

i have left some of the cherries this harvest to dry in their skins. just hope i can get the beans out when the time comes.

TGs trees seem to be coming along. if mine die, another tree will sprout somewhere.

coffee will never die.

[Blue_House]

Re: Growing coffee

Received our summer catalogue from The Diggers Club today.  They list, for the first time ever, "coffea arabica" plants at $9.95.

We live in NW Tasmania and have just planted a specimen of "coprosma hirtella" which is the Tasmanian native coffee berry.

[tonyt]

Re: Growing coffee

in 2007 i tried to understand the agronomy of my mini-plantation a little better and arrived at a sort of year outline for watering, fertilising, harvesting, pruning, etc.
apparently, if you did everything right, the harvest season would fall in october/november.

i have kept records over the past three years (2008-2010) and find the harvest season around here (newcastle) was as follows (the weight is picked cherries - divide by 6 for dry green beans):
2008: july-november 19kg
2009: sep-november 12kg
2010: july-november 20kg

at the end of 2009 i pruned two trees and left two unpruned.
the 2010 harvest was:
pruned: 11kg
unpruned: 8.5kg

so maybe pruning promotes productivity. but then one of my pruned trees died. so now i have three mature trees and three seedlings - hoping they dont all die like the other one.

is it worth it - all the watering, mulching, picking, pruning, pounding, drying, hulling, storing, roasting, for 3kg of beans a year?

its a mild coffee, pretty chocolatey and very fresh. I like it. i suppose were a bit like bees - keeping busy is something we like. and its good to have your own coffee - but you could certainly buy better for less than it costs to produce your own, even apart from all the work.

will i keep doing it? now im in the rut, and as long as the trees dont die on me, ill probably keep on. the year would seem a bit bare without the coffee seasons.

[tonyt]

Re: Growing coffee

My trees are showing signs of lots of new growth.
I wonder how large the second crop will be.

tg, how many trees have you got and what was your first harvest?

5kg a tree seems to the limit here in a good year, with alternate years somewhat down on that.

i wish i knew what my trees are, but the nursery i bought them from had no info on them, except that they were arabica. they told me they sell a fair number.

[Thundergod]

Re: Growing coffee

tg, how many trees have you got and what was your first harvest?

2 trees.

Last year I got about 2 dozen cherries.

This year is looking better but a lot of flowers dont appear to have set fruit.

It still looks like Ill get a lot more but the trees are still young.
About 4 years old now IIRC.

[tonyt]

Re: Growing coffee

It still looks like Ill get a lot more but the trees are still young.

theyll probably come all in a rush.
there may be some beneficial microclimate here at our place, or the position of my trees may be fortuitously good, but i was surprised at how much fruit they grew all of a sudden.

wait till you have 6kilos to pound and squeeze all at once. flagellate yourself 30minutes a day to build up to it.

[Thundergod]

Re: Growing coffee

flagellate yourself 30minutes a day to build up to it.

Im a 3rd dan black belt; no need.
See picture to the left.
<<-----------------<<<

[vyapada]

Re: Growing coffee

You wont need a grinder if you can do that to coffee beans :P