Coffee Plant Care: How to Grow Coffea arabica as a Houseplant

Coffee plant care indoors comes down to bright indirect light, evenly moist but well-drained soil, warmth above 60°F and moderate humidity. Give it those and Coffea arabica grows into a glossy, dark green shrub that can even flower and set red coffee cherries after a few years.

The coffee plant is an evergreen shrub from the highland forests of Ethiopia and South Sudan, where it grows in the dappled shade of taller trees. In the wild and on farms it can reach 15–25 feet; as a houseplant it is usually kept between 3 and 6 feet. Its appeal is the foliage — wavy, deeply veined, almost lacquered leaves held in neat pairs — plus the bonus of fragrant white flowers on mature plants.

It is a moderate-difficulty houseplant: not fussy about light, but quick to show stress from dry air, cold and uneven watering, mostly as brown leaf edges.

Coffee plant at a glance

Light

In its native habitat, coffee is an understory shrub, and the RHS lists partial shade as its preferred position. Indoors, "partial shade" translates to bright indirect light:

• East window: ideal; morning sun is gentle enough.
• South or west window: 3–6 ft back or behind a sheer curtain. Hot afternoon sun through glass scorches the leaves.
• North window: right at the glass, and expect slow growth and no flowers.

Too little light gives you long bare stems, small leaves and no flowers. Too much gives you bleached, yellowish leaves with brown scorched patches.

Watering

Coffee plants like steady moisture. RHS guidance is to water freely during the growing season and moderately in winter, in a mix that is moist but well drained. In practice:

1. Check the top inch of mix with a finger.
2. When it is dry, water until it runs from the drainage holes.
3. Empty the saucer after 15 minutes.

In a warm summer room that might be every 5–7 days; in winter, every 7–12 days. Coffee plants wilt dramatically when they dry out — and while they recover, repeated wilting leaves brown, crispy edges. The opposite mistake, a pot that never dries, rots the fine roots and causes yellowing and leaf drop.

If your tap water is very hard, rainwater or filtered water helps keep the slightly acidic mix the plant prefers.

Temperature and humidity

Coffee is a tropical plant. The RHS rates it as needing protection under glass year-round with a minimum of about 59°F (15°C). Aim for 70–80°F during the day and 60–65°F at night. Below about 55°F, leaves start to drop. Keep it away from drafty doors, cold windows in January and AC vents in summer.

Humidity is where most US homes fall short. Forced-air heating drops indoor humidity to 20–30% in winter, and coffee responds with brown edges and tips. The RHS guide to leaf damage on houseplants lists too dry an atmosphere as a classic cause of brown leaf tips, and underwatering combined with heat as a cause of whole leaves browning and falling.

What works:

• A room humidifier set to 50% (the most effective option).
• Grouping plants together.
• A tray of damp pebbles under the pot (pot above the water, not in it).

Misting alone raises humidity for only a few minutes.

Soil and pot

Use a rich, well-drained, slightly acidic mix. RHS recommends a loam-based compost with extra organic matter; a good US equivalent is an indoor potting mix with about 25% fine bark and 20% perlite. Avoid dense, moisture-holding mixes and pots without drainage.

Repot every 2–3 years in spring, going up 1–2 inches in diameter. Coffee plants have a deep taproot when young, so a slightly taller pot is better than a wide, shallow one.

Fertilizer

During spring and summer, feed with a balanced liquid fertilizer every two weeks, per RHS guidance, at the label's houseplant rate or slightly weaker. A fertilizer for acid-loving plants with micronutrients helps if new leaves turn yellow between the veins. Stop feeding in late fall and winter.

Pruning and size control

Left alone, a coffee plant grows upright on one main stem with horizontal side branches. The RHS notes it may need restrictive pruning indoors. In late winter or early spring:

• Pinch the growing tip to encourage branching.
• Cut back overly long branches just above a pair of leaves.
• To lower a tall plant, cut the main stem; new shoots form below the cut.

Pruning reduces flowering for a season, since flowers form on older wood, so prune lightly once the plant is mature.

Flowers and coffee cherries

The RHS notes that coffee flowers in summer once it is about 4 years old; many growers see first blooms at 3–4 years. The flowers are small, white, star-shaped and strongly fragrant — often compared to jasmine — and appear in clusters in the leaf joints. Arabica is self-fertile, so a single indoor plant can set fruit; gently brushing the open flowers with a soft paintbrush can improve fruit set.

Green cherries take roughly 7–9 months to ripen to deep red. Each contains two seeds — the coffee beans. A mature houseplant may give a small handful of cherries per year: enough to process and roast as a fun project, not enough for a daily cup.

Growing coffee from seed

You can't grow a coffee plant from roasted beans — roasting kills the seed. Use fresh, unroasted seed from a ripe cherry or a seed supplier. The RHS warns that germination can be unpredictable.

1. Remove the pulp and soak the seed 24 hours.
2. Sow 1/2 inch deep in moist seed-starting mix, flat side down.
3. Keep at 75–85°F with a heat mat, mix just moist.
4. Expect sprouts in 6–10 weeks, sometimes longer.

Most people find it faster to buy a young plant. Note that many inexpensive store "coffee plants" are several seedlings crowded into one pot; you can gently separate them in spring for more plants and better growth.

Why new coffee plants struggle in the first month

A coffee plant moving from a humid greenhouse to a heated apartment goes through a rough patch. Typical signs in the first 3–6 weeks: a few lower leaves yellowing, brown edges on older leaves, and a pause in new growth. It is adjustment, not disease. Help it along:

• Put it in its final spot right away and avoid moving it around.
• Don't repot for at least a month unless it is sitting in water or obviously root-bound.
• Raise humidity during the first winter in particular.
• Check whether it is several seedlings crammed into one pot; these compete hard and dry out fast, so they need water more often until separated in spring.

A year of coffee plant care

Coffee plant vs. look-alikes

Young coffee plants are sometimes confused with gardenia, which has similar glossy, deeply veined leaves in pairs. Coffee leaves are thinner and more wavy-edged, and longer (4–6 inches on young plants); gardenia leaves are thicker and flatter, and the plant carries large, white, rose-like flowers rather than small star-shaped clusters. The aralia sold as "coffee tree" (Polyscias) looks nothing alike up close — its leaves are rounded or finely divided.

Pests

Coffee plants attract the usual sap-feeding houseplant pests: spider mites (the RHS names glasshouse red spider mite specifically), mealybugs and scale. Check leaf undersides and stems every time you water. Sticky leaves are a sign of honeydew from scale or mealybugs.

Is a coffee plant toxic to pets?

Coffee's leaves and fruit contain caffeine. Coffea arabica isn't listed under that name in the ASPCA plant database. Note that ASPCA's entry called "coffee tree" is a different plant — Polyscias guilfoylei, an aralia, which is listed as toxic to dogs, cats and horses because of saponins.

For caffeine itself, Pet Poison Helpline notes that dogs and cats are more sensitive to caffeine than people, and that signs can include hyperactivity, vomiting, abnormal heart rate and, at higher doses, tremors and seizures. The amount in a few leaves is far lower than in coffee grounds, but treat the plant as unsafe for pets that chew. If your pet eats part of it, call your veterinarian or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435. For children, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Similar plants

If you enjoy a coffee plant, other fragrant, glossy shrubs that do well near a bright window include gardenia, jasmine and the Meyer lemon. For bold foliage with less fuss about humidity, consider the rubber plant or schefflera. More ideas: large houseplants and flowering houseplants.