Kofe
Family - Maroon. Homeland is tropical Africa.
There are about 40 types of coffee, of which Coffea arabca, who comes from Ethiopia, is of the greatest industrial importance.
The world's center of coffee production is currently the countries of Latin America, and first of all Brazil and Colombia.
A drink made from coffee seeds is widely distributed around the world due to the content of up to 3% of caffeine in it, which has a stimulating effect on the human body, primarily on the heart and on the nervous system.
Nowadays it is common in many tropical countries of the world. World production of coffee by 1995 reached 5.5 - 6 million tons.
Coffee - an evergreen shrub, grows in its native land under the shade of tall trees. In room conditions, reaches no more than 1 m of height, and the dwarf variety of Nana - no more than 40-50 cm. The leaves are large, leathery( 10-15 cm), slightly wavy. Flowers - white, large, fragrant. The fruit is a berry, in a mature state, depending on the type of bright red or yellow, similar to the fruit of a cherry. In the rooms it blooms beautifully and regularly fructifies. In each fruit there are two coffee beans. Fruit ripening takes 6-7 months.
♦ Accommodation. Requires a bright and warm location, fresh and humid air. The temperature regime in the summer is +23 - + 25 ° C.In winter, the plant is kept at a temperature of not less than +15 - + 17 ° C.The plant requires a permanent place, it is not recommended to transfer it.
To avoid excessive overheating of plants and drying of the soil in winter, it is recommended to install them at some distance from the heating devices.
On short cloudy days it is advisable to use additional artificial lighting for 2-3 hours.
♦ Care. Watering in summer is abundant, in winter - moderate, standing water at room temperature. The coffee tree prefers a weakly acid reaction of the soil( pH 6-6,5).
In a hot time, the plant should be sprayed with water 2-3 times a day. In winter, when the air humidity in the rooms decreases, we also recommend frequent spraying with water at room temperature.
Top dressing is carried out from May to September 2 times a month with azaleus fertilizers. A transplant until the age of five is carried out annually, at the oldest age, every 2 to 3 years.
♦ Pests and diseases - scutes, spider mites, black fungus. If in the room where you keep coffee, in winter the temperature will be in the range of +10 - + 12 ° C, a black border appears on the leaves, and then they turn black and the whole plant gradually perishes.
♦ Reproduction - only freshly harvested seeds, cleaned from the shell. Perlite or sand is used as a substrate. Substrate temperature should be within the range of +28 - + 30 ° C.Seeds are closed to a depth of 2 -3 cm. When two leaves appear, the seedlings are transplanted into 0.7-liter pots( the composition of the mixture is turf, leaf earth and sand - 1: 1: 1).
Application of
In rooms with proper care, it is possible to obtain from an adult plant up to 250-300 coffee seeds. To use them in food, it is necessary to remove the fleshy shell of the fruit, dry the seeds and fry in a skillet until a brown color appears and place them in a tightly closed jar.