Growing coffee

[jlmenear]

I'm going to give it a go growing a coffee plant in Glebe and see how they grow

[GrahamK]

Could not find any DIY plans on interweb either unfortunately. Maybe a co-op approach is required.

After a good number of hours hand pulping 1/2 bucket cherries, I decided to bite the bullet & get myself a pulper, or I was going to rip the trees out, and give up the growing hobby.

Just pulped a full bucket in less than 30mins so a much happier chappy now. Definitely worth the investment from a time perspective, but probably best not to do the financial sums. Got a small sample huller at the same time.

Now just got to keep picking ahead of the possums. I threw a net over my biggest tree this year after the 1st signs of possum activity, and it seems to have worked so far. It's the only one they seem to attack. They are actually efficient little pulpers, as they do not eat the beans, but will have to train them to spit the beans into a bucket after they have pulped them. I now have dozens of new little trees growing under the one they fed on last year.

GrahamK

[MrJack]

Could you just lay out a tarp under the tree?

Could be the Aussie Kopi Luwak!

[GrahamK]

Could you just lay out a tarp under the tree?

Could be the Aussie Kopi Luwak!

Thought of the tarp idea, but probably not that practical. They do not actually digest them, so no Kopi Luwak type processing unfortunately :-)

[Thundergod]

My two trees have a good crop on them again.
Waiting now for the weather to warm up and them to ripen.

[flynnaus]

My two trees have a good crop on them again.
Waiting now for the weather to warm up and them to ripen.

Good to hear from you again TG. I like to read about you and other CSers growing and harvesting your own but we never get to hear about the end product. That makes me wonder if coffee grown outside its preferred climatic zone isn't that good.

So how is your homegrown in the cup?

[GrahamK]

A lot better than I expected. I use a Honey style processing, i.e. Pulp, put into water briefly to discard floaters, then quickly remove, dry etc & hull only when ready to roast.

The 1st few years used a washed process and it was not as good. Could be due to processing or maybe more experience & better roasting.

I usually roast for Espresso or Cold Drip. I roast as a soft bean. Have not tried blending up to now.

Got over 3kg of hulled green last year.

GrahamK

[herbie]

Hi Fellow Coffeesnob growers,
I have just finished processing my 3rd pick from my 2 three year old 1.5m trees. I harvested 7 kg of red cherries which were pulped using a hand mincer with only the auger (no disk or blades on the front). Each hopper full was put through 3 times giving about 90% flesh maceration. They were then fermented for 72 hours in rain water after which the floaters were discarded. They were then washed with a garden hose gun in a garden sieve. I washed about 200g at a time. The beans are now drying on mesh racks for 1-2 weeks. The 1st pick this year gave about 500g (parchment on) and the 2nd pick about 1400g (parchment on).
The attached photo only shows half the tree as the other side cherries had been picked before the photo was taken.
This year I am leaving the parchment on until just before roasting.
Last year's crop ended up with 900g ready to roast beans. I now have to prune the trees (1st time). There are only a few cherries left on to ripen.
It took me about 5 hours to pulp the 7 kg, but a hand operated pulping machine is at least $500 and weighs 24 kg as far as I can ascertain from browsing the web. Fortunately being retired I have time to enjoy my hobby from start to finish.
Last year's crop produced very enjoyable lattes and the flavor seemed to increase with longer green bean storage time.
Herbie.

[Dimal]

Way to go Herbie...

Mal.

[Elvis3577]

Hi everyone.

I have a question.
As the trees that I have are growing taller and older. Wildlife and pests seem to become more familiar with my coffee trees....
This year I've found while picking, that a considerable amount of beans had a brownish/ black bruise on them.
As I depulp them by hand , I happened to notice that as you squeeze them, a slightly brown sap comes out. And sometimes the guts look a bit brown as well.
About three times this week I squeezed out a teeny tiny little maggot.
So obviously I am dealing here with a pest ( fly? ).
Does anyone know what I could be dealing with specifically and how to get rid of it ?

Also, maybe related , maybe not. I still get a lot of floaters. And I mean a lot. I think it is easily about 60% -67% of all the beans I pick !!
Which is disheartening.
But I still have enough left to feel a bit the same way as Graham.
What was an exciting novel challenge a few years ago, is now becoming a bit of a chore...
The only other cause for floaters that I can come up with , apart from possible pest infection, is that during the early stages of the new bean growth , something is missing like water and /or nutrients. I must admit that I didn't fertilize the plants this year...
But I've had a lot of floaters before where I did fertilize them... ( ?? )
Any suggestion is welcome !

Thanks already guys .

[Elvis3577]

Hi Goofie.

I used to live in Greenbank as well before I moved down south. Spring Mountain it was called. Hardly anything would grow at that time.Not even the natives. It was that darn dry !
By the time I left Brissie we were on water restriction level 6. Good to hear things have improved.

[Divey]

Hi everyone.

I have a question.
As the trees that I have are growing taller and older. Wildlife and pests seem to become more familiar with my coffee trees....
This year I've found while picking, that a considerable amount of beans had a brownish/ black bruise on them.
As I depulp them by hand , I happened to notice that as you squeeze them, a slightly brown sap comes out. And sometimes the guts look a bit brown as well.
About three times this week I squeezed out a teeny tiny little maggot.
So obviously I am dealing here with a pest ( fly? ).
Does anyone know what I could be dealing with specifically and how to get rid of it ?

Also, maybe related , maybe not. I still get a lot of floaters. And I mean a lot. I think it is easily about 60% -67% of all the beans I pick !!
Which is disheartening.
But I still have enough left to feel a bit the same way as Graham.
What was an exciting novel challenge a few years ago, is now becoming a bit of a chore...
The only other cause for floaters that I can come up with , apart from possible pest infection, is that during the early stages of the new bean growth , something is missing like water and /or nutrients. I must admit that I didn't fertilize the plants this year...
But I've had a lot of floaters before where I did fertilize them... ( ?? )
Any suggestion is welcome !

Thanks already guys .

Wow, you certainly have a problem there. I have absolutely no idea what the problem could be.

Late last year I bought a coffee huller off these people......

Zentvelds's Coffee
193 Broken Head Road
Newrybar NSW 2479
Ph 0266872045

John Zentveld is a very nice bloke who does not have a problem talking to people about looking after their coffee trees. I would give him a buzz and ask a few questions. I'm sure he would be able to assist you.
On a side note, I have two coffee trees that are about 3 years and I have them in very large pots but I do feed them with products called Kahoona which is a pelletized fertilizer, Powerfeed and also Seasol. I also get a few floaters but no where as many as you describe. I keep the water up to them on a daily basis.

[Divey]

Hi everyone.

I have a question.
As the trees that I have are growing taller and older. Wildlife and pests seem to become more familiar with my coffee trees....
This year I've found while picking, that a considerable amount of beans had a brownish/ black bruise on them.
As I depulp them by hand , I happened to notice that as you squeeze them, a slightly brown sap comes out. And sometimes the guts look a bit brown as well.
About three times this week I squeezed out a teeny tiny little maggot.
So obviously I am dealing here with a pest ( fly? ).
Does anyone know what I could be dealing with specifically and how to get rid of it ?

Also, maybe related , maybe not. I still get a lot of floaters. And I mean a lot. I think it is easily about 60% -67% of all the beans I pick !!
Which is disheartening.
But I still have enough left to feel a bit the same way as Graham.
What was an exciting novel challenge a few years ago, is now becoming a bit of a chore...
The only other cause for floaters that I can come up with , apart from possible pest infection, is that during the early stages of the new bean growth , something is missing like water and /or nutrients. I must admit that I didn't fertilize the plants this year...
But I've had a lot of floaters before where I did fertilize them... ( ?? )
Any suggestion is welcome !

Thanks already guys .

I picked my trees for the last time today and noticed exactly what you are describing. Every time I squeezed a cherry and found the inside was slightly brown I found a fruit fly larvae in there. I also observed that the larvae get in between the two beans and consume part of the parenchyma (the slimy covering of the beans) and I have no doubt that the brown stuff is the larva's poop.

[Thundergod]

When was the last time you pruned them Elvis?

A few years ago my trees were very sickly looking.
Not many leaves and the remaining ones ot healthy looking.

I gave the trees a severe pruning.

They took a year to recover but are now back to their original height and looking good.

[Elvis3577]

When was the last time you pruned them Elvis?

A few years ago my trees were very sickly looking.
Not many leaves and the remaining ones ot healthy looking.

I gave the trees a severe pruning.

They took a year to recover but are now back to their original height and looking good.

Hi.

Sorry for taking so long to reply...
We went to Europe for a few weeks chasing the snow so....

Anyway. To answer your question . I have never pruned them yet.The trees weren't all that old and bushy. But as i came back I noticed that they are certainly getting that way !
So maybe yes....time to get the secateurs out !

About 2 days ago now, I rang John Zentveld. Snr btw. And we had quite a lenghty chat. Mostly about coffee as well. And I tried as best as I could , to explain my problem. Which is not easy over the phone....
Anyway, he recons it's something called " Cercospora " ,which didn't ring any bells, and is basically caused by malnutrition. And so, he recommended an organic slow release( pellet) fertilizer.If I heard it right I think he mentioned a brand " Terrafirma ". He also added that it's not a quick fix and that the next crop also may suffer. But it should come good after that... The idea is basically that a plant which is a bit down and not all that healthy is more susceptible to diseases, incl fruitflies etc.
I had a quick look on the internet to see what this Cercospora would look like, and it doesn't resemble the looks of my leaves. Personally I think my plants don't look all that / at all sick, apart from some brown leaf tips and slight yellowing. But I agree that some fertilizer/ food would go a long way and won't hurt !
His response was quite casual when I mentioned pruning. He seems to think that it is not going to make too much of a difference in my case....

PS. By the sounds of it 'Zentveld Coffee' sells hand-pulpers and hullers in case anyone is interested.The hullers are A$330,- . I can't remember the pulper price.

Happy growing everyone !

EAP.