Coffee Arabica Stem Cutting

Timing

• Coffee shrubs root best from softwood cuttings, which must be gathered and potted in early summer. Flowers drastically slow or even prevent rooting in many cases, so it is best to wait until after the flowers have faded before collecting cuttings from coffee shrubs.

Equipment Preparation

• Clean, sanitary equipment is vital to ensuring the successful rooting and longterm survival of coffee cuttings. Wash a 6- to 8-inch plastic pot and a pair of pruning shears in hot, soapy water, then rinse them and allow them to air dry. If the pruning shears or pot have been recently used, soak them in a 10-percent bleach solution for five minutes after washing them. Gather the clean pot, pruning shears and a 2-gallon plastic freezer bag and place them in a shaded work area. Fill the pot with a mix of equal parts perlite and sand and set it aside. Also, measure out 1 tablespoon of 1.0-percent IBA (indolebutyric acid) rooting hormone talc and place it in a small paper bowl.

Cutting Selection

• Morning is the best time to gather coffee cuttings because the air is cool and moist, and the plant is fully hydrated. Look for a 4- to 6-inch cutting at the tip of an upright branch with a stem diameter of 3/16 to 5/16 inch. Avoid cuttings from lateral or side branches because the resulting plant will have a prostrate, vine-like growth habit. Stems with fruit are not ideal, but the fruit can be snipped off and the cutting rooted like normal if no other cutting is available.

Cutting Preparation

• Cuttings dry out quickly once severed from the parent plant, so it is important to prepare and pot them as soon as possible after removal. Snip the stem just below a pair of leaves, then strip off the foliage along the bottom one-third of the stem to expose the growth nodes located at the base of each leaf. Lightly coat the leafless part of the coffee cutting with the 1.0-percent IBA rooting hormone talc, then stick it in the prepared pot so the lowest set of leaves rests on the surface of the growing medium. Cut the remaining leaves in half to limit moisture loss, then pluck off any fruit that may be present.

Rooting Conditions

• High humidity is the single most important factor when rooting coffee cuttings because the glossy, evergreen leaves lose moisture quickly and will dry out. Place the pot in a sheltered area with filtered sunlight and protection from strong winds. Cover the pot with the 2-gallon plastic freezer bag to create a greenhouse-like environment around the coffee cutting. The bag must not touch the cutting, so hold it up with a stick or two to prevent that from happening. Keep the growing medium slightly moist and mist the coffee cutting twice daily to keep the leaves moist. The cuttings root fastest if bottom-heated to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but it is not strictly necessary. Healthy coffee cuttings will root in roughly two months, or 75 days.

Care and Transplant

• The time between rooting and transplant is dangerous for coffee cuttings because they can easily succumb to shock when suddenly exposed to normal outdoor temperatures and humidity. Slowly acclimate the cutting to normal conditions by slitting open the freezer bag. Prop open the bag for an increasing length of time each day over the course of one week before removing the bag altogether. A sheltered area with bright, diffuse light and protection from the wind is an ideal location for hardening-off the cutting before transplanting it into a larger container or a permanent bed in autumn.