A small plantation at your home - a coffee tree: the birthplace of the plant, types, photos. Coffee tree - harm and benefits Coffee tree or shrub
The coffee tree can also be grown in an apartment, producing coffee beans
Coffee tree, Coffee (Coffea) is a genus of evergreen plants in the Rubiaceae family. The genus Coffee, Coffee tree (Coffea L.) includes about 40 species of plants of the madder family (Rubiaceae), which are common in tropical Africa and tropical Asia.
It should be noted that these are quite diverse plants - among them there are deciduous, evergreen, tall trees and shrubs. What they have in common is the presence of caffeine in the seeds and leaves. True, not all of them produce beans from which the favorite drink of many is made, coffee. In this regard, only two types are important - Arabian coffee (Arabica) and Congolese coffee (Robusta). Liberian coffee and high coffee are also of some economic importance.
The coffee tree grows in regions with a hot climate (with an average annual temperature of 20°C) and high humidity. Coffee trees are always included in plant collections of botanical gardens, as they grow well indoors.
Story
Coffee beans
One version of the discovery of the miraculous properties of coffee beans is associated with an observant Ethiopian shepherd. Kaldim noticed that after the goats ate the leaves and young shoots of the plant, the animals began to frolic happily. The shepherd told the abbot of the monastery about his observation, who decided to try the effect of the drink on himself. After the invigorating properties of coffee were confirmed, the abbot began to give a decoction of the fruit to the monks so that they would not fall asleep during long night prayers. It occurred in Kaffa Province, a little-studied area in southwestern Ethiopia. In memory of her, the tree, seeds and drink were named “coffee”. In Ethiopia, you can still find vast wild thickets of coffee, and some peoples of East Africa still drink this drink, brewing it like tea from the leaves of the coffee tree.
From Ethiopia, along the Red Sea, coffee came to Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, where the Persians liked it. However, coffee gained full recognition only in the 16th century. From Arabia, coffee traveled through Mecca to Cairo and Constantinople (Istanbul). It was there that the first “Coffee Tavern” was opened in 1554. IN Western Europe coffee arrived only in 1615 - on the ships of the Venetian fleet.
Not only the coffee drink won the hearts of gourmets - the coffee tree also began its victorious march around the world. In 1699, the Dutch planted coffee on the island of Java in Indonesia, and the plant followed to plantations in Ceylon and India. The Dutch later brought the coffee tree to South America, from where it spread to the tropical lands of the New World, as well as to regions that are now largest producers coffee in the world.
Characteristic
In terms of the structure of the crown, a coffee tree is somewhat similar to a spruce - there are horizontal branches on a straight vertical trunk. The bark is thin, brownish-gray. The leaves are oblong-oval, laurel-like, with an opposite arrangement.
It blooms in spring, delighting its owners with white fragrant flowers. The fruit is berry-like and consists of two single-seeded kernels.
Under indoor conditions, one tree 1.5 m high can produce a harvest of 300 to 500 g of grains.
One species is widely represented in culture - C. arabica L. (and its forms) - this is a valuable plant native to Ethiopia. There it grows in river valleys, reaching a height of 1000-2000 m above sea level. The coffee tree is an important source of caffeine, due to which it occupies a huge share in the economies of several countries (Ethiopia, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and India).
Care
Thanks to coffee, every morning is cheerful
Coffee loves bright, diffused light, but the plant should be shaded from direct midday rays. It is best to place the plant on western and eastern windows, since near northern windows the coffee tree lacks light, and near southern windows it requires additional shading from the midday sun.
In winter, when there is a lack of light, the plant is illuminated with fluorescent lamps. In summer, the coffee tree is taken out into the garden or onto the balcony, where it is protected from rain, direct sunlight and strong winds. If there is no such place on your balcony, then you can leave the coffee in the same place, but the room should be constantly ventilated. It is advisable to gradually accustom the plant to the new level of illumination. A tulle curtain or gauze is suitable for this, which will provide diffused light.
The temperature of the coffee from spring to autumn should be approximately 22-24°C, but not lower than 16°C. In winter, a decrease to 16-18°C is acceptable, but in any case not lower than 14°C. The plant requires a constant supply fresh air, but at the same time does not like drafts. In summer, you need to provide abundant, regular watering. In winter, on the contrary, reduce it. It is better to use soft, settled water, which should be several degrees above room temperature. It should be watered as the top layer of the substrate dries, while avoiding overdrying and waterlogging.
Since coffee loves high humidity in the spring and summer, it is recommended to regularly spray it with soft, settled water at room temperature (or slightly higher).
Fertilizing coffee should begin in late spring or early summer and should be done 2-3 times a month. The coffee tree is fed with nitrogen and potassium salts at the rate of 3 g of potassium salt and 5 g of ammonium nitrate per 1 liter of water. During active growth, each adult tree should receive up to 1 liter of this solution. Some gardeners successfully alternate this feeding with organic fertilizer. In the fall, feeding is stopped; in winter, the plant is not fed at all.
To enhance the bushiness, young shoots are pinched. Withered young side shoots removed by cutting out the very petiole of the covering leaf.
The plant will produce its first flowers at the age of 3-4 years. It blooms in early spring - small white flowers with a pleasant aroma, slightly reminiscent of jasmine, appear in the axils of the leaves. After some time, round fruits are set, which are somewhat similar to cherries. Each fruit contains two grains. At home, fruit ripening should be expected in about a year. You will recognize the ripeness of the fruit by its color, which turns dark burgundy.
Young plants need to be replanted annually in the spring until new growth occurs; coffee trees older than 3-4 years are replanted once every 2 years. Acidic substrates are not suitable for these purposes - give preference to a substrate with a slightly acidic reaction. The composition will be approximately this: one part turf, one part leaf, one part humus, one part sand. There should be a good layer of drainage at the bottom of the pot.
Difficulties
Since the coffee tree loves moisture, if there is a lack of it, the tips of the leaves dry out.
If you water the coffee too much, the leaves begin to rot and fall off.
If the soil is not acidic enough, the leaves may become discolored.
When a plant gets sunburned, the leaves turn yellow and brown spots appear on them.
Hard water causes the tips of leaves to curl and develop brown spots. To avoid this, water is softened using special tablets or peat is kept in water.
Links
- Coffee tree, article in the women's magazine myJane.ru
Coffea
Growing a coffee tree at home
Russian name
: Coffee tree, coffee
Latin name: Coffea
Family: Rubiaceae (Rubiaceae)
Homeland: Arabian Peninsula, tropics of Asia and Africa
Bloom: annual
Height: average
Lighting: Bright light
Air humidity: Moderate
Ease of cultivation: For beginner
A young or mature coffee tree will decorate the interior of any apartment. This evergreen tree will delight all household members with its greenery.
It is known that since ancient times, two of the 40 types of coffee were grown in rooms: Arabic (Coffea arabica L.) and Liberian (Coffea Liberica L.) species.
Arabic coffee, most suitable for growing indoors, is a small (3-5 m high) tree with a trunk from 8 to 13 cm in diameter. In indoor conditions it reaches a height of 2.5-3 m.
Coffee is a beautiful decorative foliage and decorative flower evergreen shrub that grows up to 1.5 m in indoor conditions. The leaves are large (10-15 cm), dark, shiny, wavy along the edge, slightly wavy. The flowers are white and large. The fruit is a berry, bright red in color when ripe, similar to a cherry. It blooms and bears fruit in the rooms.
| According to legends, the drink coffee appeared in Arabia before the 13th century. They say that one Arab mullah, having noticed how goats, having eaten the leaves and berries of the coffee tree, began to jump excitedly over the hills, began to give an infusion of coffee beans to his students so that they would not fall asleep during evening prayer. In the 16th - 17th centuries. coffee spread to Persia, Turkey, Europe and America. This drink began to accompany many ceremonies. Some peoples serve coffee as a sign of hospitality. Bedouins pour four sips into a cup as a sign to the guest: “Drink and leave.” In the East, coffee houses surpassed mosques in popularity and were banned in some places. The first European country to start drinking coffee was Italy. Soon after, "cafes" appeared throughout Europe. Charles II closed 3,000 coffee shops in England, calling them “rebel schools,” but within a few days he was forced to revoke his edict under pressure from public opinion. |
When grown indoors, coffee blooms twice a year: in April-May and October-November. The fruits (berries with 1-3 hard seeds) gradually change color when ripe from light green to dark red or burgundy. A plant can bear flowers and fruits at the same time. But if the pot is small, there may not be enough nutrition to form new fruits and the leaves will suffer. The leaves along the edges will dry out due to the fact that nutrients are taken from them for the development of berries. Therefore, before the coffee blooms, the ripe fruits are removed.
The coffee tree is an unpretentious plant that adapts well to home conditions, but it loves moisture and is afraid of drafts.
The disadvantages of the coffee tree are that it absolutely does not tolerate proximity to any other plants.
In the rooms, the coffee tree blooms beautifully and bears fruit regularly. Each coffee fruit contains two coffee beans. It takes 6-7 months for the fruits to ripen.
Growing a coffee tree in an apartment is not difficult!
With proper care, the coffee tree (or bush) does not get sick and is practically not affected by pests. The coffee tree loves moisture and is afraid of drafts. Therefore, if you decide to decorate your living room with this exotic plant, take into account its features. And then you are guaranteed a cup of aromatic coffee from your own coffee plantation.
From an adult plant at home you can get up to half a kilogram of green grains per year.
Coffee tree care
Location and temperature
Light: bright diffused. The plant is shaded from direct sun. 
Successful cultivation requires a bright, well-ventilated room, protection from direct sunlight, and frequent spraying with water at room temperature.
Windows facing west and east are best suited for coffee trees. The tree loves space and fresh air.
The temperature from spring to autumn should be around 22-24°C, but not lower than 16°C; in winter it is reduced to 16-18°C.
In order to avoid excessive overheating of plants and drying out of the soil in winter, it is recommended to install them at some distance from heating devices.
Watering
The coffee tree requires regular watering, especially as it grows. Do not water the plant until the top layer of soil dries slightly. Watering too much, as well as not enough, can cause leaves to fall. In winter, watering should be limited.
Watering in summer is abundant, regular, with soft, settled water, as the top layer of the substrate dries, in winter watering is reduced and watered moderately.
Air humidity
Air humidity is high.
The coffee tree prefers high humidity in spring and summer. It is recommended to regularly spray it with soft, settled water at room temperature or slightly higher.
It is especially important to maintain high humidity in the summer. The plant is sprayed regularly.
Top dressing
Coffee feeding begins in late spring - early summer and is carried out once every 1.5-2 weeks. Feed with nitrogen and potassium salts at the rate of 3 g of potassium salt and 5 g of ammonium nitrate per 1 liter of water. Each adult tree should receive up to 1 liter of this solution in the spring during the period of active growth. You can alternate this feeding with organic fertilizer. Feeding is stopped in the fall; no feeding is done in winter.
Pruning and crown formation
To enhance bushiness, young shoots are pinched. Dried young side shoots are removed by cutting them out at the very petiole of the covering leaf.
When grown indoors, the coffee tree does not require special crown formation. However, in the spring it is necessary to carefully inspect it, trim off excess branches and dry shoots, as well as those that thicken the crown. Slightly shorten too long shoots that sag, taking into account that fruiting occurs on first-order branches.
You need to try to interfere as little as possible with the independent life of the plant. Pruning is required only as a last resort - when the bush becomes too large for the room that you are willing to provide it with.
Rest period
Dormant period: weakly expressed, in winter. The plant is kept in a bright place, at 16-18°C, watered moderately.
The first flowering of the plant occurs at the age of 3-4 years. The coffee tree blooms in early spring, small white flowers appear in the axils of the leaves, which have a pleasant aroma reminiscent of jasmine. After some time, round fruits appear, which are initially green and then turn red and resemble cherries. Each such fruit contains two grains, which are known as “coffee”. At home, the fruits of the coffee tree ripen in about a year. An indicator of ripeness is the color of the fruit shell - at this time it becomes dark brown-red.
Transfer
Young plants are replanted annually in the spring until new growth occurs, those older than 3-4 years - once every 2 years, tubs - as the tub rots, but an annual addition of soil is required.
It is better to change the soil in the spring.
The soil
The best soil is mixed with acidic peat, as well as humus mixed with coarse sand. The soil must be acidic, since coffee does not tolerate neutral soil well. The soil should be fertilized regularly, once a month, with a solution of fertilizers intended for the rose family. Dry mullein, which is sprinkled on the surface of the soil in a pot, is very useful.
Reproduction
When sowing seeds, the seeds are sown immediately after harvesting the fruits and removing the pulp, as they quickly lose their viability; the seedlings bloom in the 3-4th year of cultivation;
. sowing must be covered with a jar or plastic bag, since only in humid air does the seed coat soften and the seedling easily shed it, but in dry air this does not happen and the young plant may die;
. semi-lignified cuttings, although they are difficult to root, plants grown in this way bloom and begin to bear fruit much earlier than those obtained from seedlings.
Coffee trees are usually propagated by seeds; propagation by cuttings is rarely used due to the poor ability of the cuttings to form roots.
Growing coffee from seeds
Coffee seeds quickly lose their viability when stored; Green coffee beans sold in stores will also not sprout. For propagation, it is better to take fully ripened fruits with two seeds, from which you can be guaranteed to grow young plants if you sow them immediately after ripening.
1. Freshly harvested and pulp-cleaned coffee seeds are thoroughly washed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect and completely remove the mucous membrane; floating grains are discarded.
2. Two weeks before sowing the seeds, prepare a loose, water- and breathable substrate: steam the turf soil, mix it with sand and sifted peat in a ratio (1:2:2).
3. Place the peeled coffee seeds in a pot filled with substrate, flat side down, 3 cm apart. Having pressed the seeds into the soil to a depth of 1 cm, water the substrate with a pink solution of potassium permanganate and cover the crops with glass.
4. Place the pot with the sown seeds in a warm place and water it moderately; at a temperature of about 20 degrees, seedlings appear in 1-1.5 months.
5. Every day the crops are ventilated, the glass is wiped and turned over; When seedlings appear, the ventilation time is gradually increased.
6. After the formation of 2-3 pairs of true leaves, coffee seedlings are planted in small individual pots (7 cm in diameter) and shaded until rooting; then put it in a bright place with a constant flow of fresh air.
7. Lignification of a growing coffee seedling occurs in an unusual way: first, unsightly brown spots appear on the green bark, increasing in size and merging with each other; soon the spots lighten and the bark takes on the color typical of a coffee tree. Coffee trees developing from seedlings do not need to form a crown: at first they grow with one trunk, and in the second year skeletal branches grow from the awakened lateral axillary buds of the trunk. Too long side shoots of coffee are pruned to ensure a full crown and abundant flowering. Fruiting of coffee trees grown from seeds begins after 3-4 years.
Propagation by cuttings
When planting cuttings, certain rules are followed; if several cuttings are planted side by side, the leaves should not cover each other.
Plants obtained by cuttings can bloom immediately after rooting; they retain all the properties of the mother plant, the fruits are larger and more numerous. However, coffee trees from cuttings grow more slowly than from seeds; they require the formation of a crown (usually round).
1. To obtain cuttings, shoots of last year's growth from the middle part of the crown of a fruit-bearing coffee tree and apical branches are used.
2. The stalk is cut obliquely with two pairs of leaves; a piece of branch about 2.5 cm long is left under the lower node, which is scratched from below with a needle to stimulate root formation.
3. The bases of the cuttings are placed in a heteroauxin solution (a quarter of a tablet per 0.5 liter of water) for approximately 4 hours; then dust the lower cut of the cutting with charcoal powder.
4. The cuttings are planted vertically in a mixture of sifted high peat and perlite, spilled with a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate; The petioles of the lower leaves of the cutting are buried halfway into the substrate, preventing adjacent cuttings from touching each other.
5. After planting the cuttings, water the soil again with a solution of potassium permanganate and build a mini-greenhouse in the pot.
6. Place the pot with coffee cuttings in a bright place, protected from direct sun, and maintain a high temperature of the substrate (optimally 25-27 degrees).
7. The greenhouse is regularly ventilated by spraying the cuttings; After about 40 days, their upper kidney awakens.
8. Transplantation of cuttings into individual pots with a diameter of 9-12 cm is carried out after the formation of a new pair of leaves. For rooted cuttings, prepare a mixture of turf soil, peat and sand (4:2:1) with the addition of wood ash. A shard is placed on the drainage hole of the pot with the convex side up, coarse sand is poured onto the bottom of the pot in a layer of 1-1.5 cm. The cutting is planted in a pot using the prepared substrate, at the same level (you cannot bury it - the root collar will rot), watered, placed on a bright place without direct sun.
9. If buds appear on rooted cuttings, there is no need to remove them: the fruits will be full-fledged and will not slow down the development of plants.
Possible difficulties
If the soil is not too acidic, the leaves may become discolored.
The tips of the leaves dry out when there is a lack of moisture in the air.
The leaves turn yellow and brown spots of dead tissue appear on them in case of sunburn.
If overwatered, the leaves rot and fall off.
When watered with hard water, the tips of the leaves curl slightly and brown spots appear on them. To prevent this from happening, soften the water using special tablets, or keep a bag of peat in 3 liters of water.
Pests and diseases
The main pests are scale insects, spider mites, and diseases include sooty fungus. If in winter the temperature in the room where the coffee tree is installed is between 10 - 12 C, then a black border will first appear on the leaves, and why the whole plant will begin to die.
How to make coffee bear fruit?
Plants bear fruit only with year-round care, which includes weeding and regular treatment of trees with fungicides and insecticides to protect them from pests and diseases, such as bean borer or coffee rust. A young plant begins to bear fruit after at least two years.
Healing properties
A drink made from roasted coffee seeds relieves headaches and fatigue. Acts as a vasodilator. Used for certain types of poisoning.
At home, the seeds are freed from pulp and dried outdoors indoors. The dried seeds are fried until brown, crushed and brewed with boiling water at the rate of one tablespoon per glass of water. Leave for 60 minutes.
A coffee tree- a genus of plants from the madder family, evergreen plants up to 4 meters high. Shrubs or small trees. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs or in threes, leathery, perennial or herbaceous, entire, equipped with stipules. Flowers are in the corners of the leaves, sit in clusters, rarely solitary, white, bisexual, often fragrant. The number of parts in the calyx and corolla ranges from 4 to 9, but mostly 5. The corolla is fused-petaled with a short or long tube. The ovary is solid, round or almost cylindrical, 2-locular, contains 1 ovule in each ovule; the style is divided into 2 filamentous stigmas. The fruit is berry-shaped, with 2 seeds. There are 20 species that grow wild in hot countries of Africa and Asia. The most famous species is Coffea arabica L. A tree 6 to 8 meters high, with outstretched branches; the leaves are leathery, glossy, opposite, 14 centimeters long, oblong or ovate-oblong, pointed. Flowers in bunches of 3 and 7 in the corners of the leaves, white fragrant - quintuple; The oblong fruit is red, and at the end purple, oval, 14 millimeters long. The seeds are oblong, flat-convex, with their flat sides facing each other, on which a longitudinal groove is noticeable. Consist of horny endosperm (protein); embryo with ovoid cotyledons. These seeds are known to everyone under the name coffee or coffee K. is originally from eastern Africa, from Abyssinia. K. was transported to Arabia at the end of the 15th century, but it began to spread in Europe no earlier than the middle of the 17th century. Currently, it is bred in all tropical countries of the Old and New Worlds, where the average summer temperature is not lower than 14½ R. The first tests of K. breeding were made by the Dutch in Java in the city and in Suriname in. In the city, K. began to be bred by the French in Martinique and the British in Jamaica. The first cargo of Javanese K. arrived in Holland in the city. K. varieties are numerous. The lower grades are supplied by Brazil, in an amount of about half of the K. produced throughout the globe. Then follow Javanese(1/5 of total production), Ceylonese(1/10). They are followed by Antillean varieties: San Domingo, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc. Least traded Moksky K. - only about 8 million pounds, while more than 200 million are produced from Brazil. Mocha is considered the best, but there is no real mocha in trade at all: this name means African, exported through Cairo. African varieties partly go through Mocha. Indian ones are distinguished by large seeds, and mocha - small ones. Of the American ones, they are considered the best Martinique and some Peruvian. K. seeds, or as the Germans call them, coffee beans (Kaffee-Bohnen) contain a special alkaloid caffeine, close to the theine of tea and theobromine of chocolate, and caffeic tannic acid. K. the tree begins to bear fruit in the third year, but rarely lasts more than 12 years. It blooms and bears fruit throughout the year, but the main harvests occur in spring and autumn. After harvesting, the fruit pulp is separated different ways from seeds that are dried, but this is not always possible due to the enormous amount of collection; therefore, cleaning has to be done gradually, which often reduces the quality of the product. Another species of K., relatively recently discovered in Africa, namely in western: Sierra Leone, Monrovia, Angola, is C. lieberica Hiern. It is distinguished by its large leaves, twice as large as the leaves of the common K., and larger flowers, the corolla of which consists of 6 and even 9 petals. The fruits are much larger. The yield of Liberian K. is greater than usual. Currently, products of this new variety are already commercially available. The culture of ordinary K. in rooms on windows and in greenhouses works very well. It requires nutritious turf soil and moderate watering; with good care it bears fruit.
Plum - well, who isn’t familiar with it?! She is loved by many gardeners. And all because it has an impressive list of varieties, it’s surprising excellent harvests, pleases with its diversity in terms of ripening and a huge selection of color, shape and taste of fruits. Yes, in some places it feels better, in others it feels worse, but almost no summer resident gives up the pleasure of growing it on his plot. Today it can be found not only in the south, in the middle zone, but also in the Urals and Siberia.
“Every vegetable has its own time,” and every plant has its own optimal time for planting. Anyone who has dealt with planting is well aware that the hot season for planting is spring and autumn. This is due to several factors: in the spring the plants have not yet begun to grow rapidly, there is no sweltering heat and precipitation often falls. However, no matter how hard we try, circumstances often develop such that planting has to be carried out in the midst of summer.
Chili con carne translated from Spanish- chili with meat. This is a Texas and Mexican dish whose main ingredients are chili peppers and shredded beef. In addition to the main products there are onions, carrots, tomatoes, and beans. This red lentil chili recipe is delicious! The dish is fiery, scalding, very filling and amazingly tasty! You can make a big pot, put it in containers and freeze - you'll have a delicious dinner for a whole week.
Cucumber is one of the most favorite garden crops of our summer residents. However, not all and not always gardeners manage to get a really good harvest. And although growing cucumbers requires regular attention and care, there is a little secret that will significantly increase their yield. It's about about pinching cucumbers. Why, how and when to pinch cucumbers, we will tell you in the article. An important point in the agricultural technology of cucumbers is their formation, or type of growth.
Summer is associated with beautiful flowers. Both in the garden and in the rooms you want to admire the luxurious inflorescences and touching flowers. And for this it is not at all necessary to use cut bouquets. The assortment of the best indoor plants includes many beautifully flowering species. In the summer, when they receive the brightest lighting and optimal daylight hours, they can outshine any bouquet. Short-lived or just annual crops also look like living bouquets.
Pie with sardines and potatoes - quick, tasty, simple! This pie can be baked on weekends, on weekdays, and even modestly. festive table it will also decorate. In principle, any canned fish - natural with the addition of oil - is suitable for the filling. With pink salmon or salmon the taste will be a little different, with saury, sardines or mackerel it’s so delicious! The potatoes are placed in the pie raw, so they need to be cut very thin so that they have time to bake. You can use a vegetable cutter.
Summer is in full swing. Planting in gardens and vegetable gardens is mostly completed, but worries have not diminished, because the hottest months of the year are on the calendar. The temperature scale of the thermometer often exceeds +30 °C, preventing our plants from growing and developing. How can we help them cope with the heat? The tips we will share in this article will be useful for both country and city residents. After all indoor plants During this period it is also difficult. In hot weather, plants need watering.
For many gardeners, slugs are a nightmare. Although you might think, what’s wrong with these, at first glance, peaceful, sedentary creatures? But in fact, they can cause significant harm to your plants and crops. Not only do slugs persistently eat leaves, flowers and fruits in spring and summer, but with the onset of cold weather, these land mollusks move into the cellar and there they continue to destroy what you have so carefully grown and collected.
Spelled horns with beef - a quick dish for dinner or lunch. Recently, spelt (spelt wheat) has become popular among supporters of proper nutrition and not only. This tasty cereal is used to prepare porridges, soups, spelled and pasta. In this recipe for spelled cones, we will prepare healthy navy-style pasta with a sauce made from vegetables and lean ground beef. The recipe is suitable for those who watch their figure and like to cook healthy food at home.
Summer is a wonderful time of year! There is so much you can do at your dacha in a few warm months - work, relax, and invite friends to a barbecue. But as soon as the heat of the day subsides, our small but real enemies immediately appear - mosquitoes. In rainy summers or after heavy river floods, there are especially many of them and the attacks of small bloodsuckers become simply unbearable. Mosquitoes produce unpleasant squeaks and bites that cause severe itching.
The incredible blooms on your favorite cacti and succulents always seem even more delectable because of the amazing hardiness of the plants themselves. Luxurious bells and dazzling stars remind you that nature has many miracles in store. And although many indoor succulents require special wintering conditions to bloom, they still remain crops that require minimal care and are suitable for everyone. Let's take a closer look at the most spectacular of them.
Summer appetizer with quail eggs and red caviar - a simple vegetable salad with a spicy sweet and sour dressing that goes well with eggs and caviar. The salad is an explosion of vitamins - fresh cucumber and radish, sweet pepper and ripe tomato, and also creamy curd cheese, which perfectly complements the vegetable mix. This dish can be served before lunch as a light snack with toast. For dressing, unrefined oil and balsamic vinegar are suitable.
Linden is planted in parks and squares; slender trees with spreading crowns perfectly purify the air and give long-awaited coolness on a hot summer day. She is loved for the amazing honey aroma that envelops her in late May and early June, when the linden blossom appears. He has valuable medicinal properties, used in many folk recipes, retains its beneficial qualities for a long time. How and when to collect it, how to properly dry, store and use it will be discussed in the article.
Flowers on the site please the eye, give harmony and improve your mood from the first warm days until late autumn. Many gardeners and summer residents enthusiastically engage in floriculture - they propagate, plant, create unique flower beds and flower beds not only on their plots, but also in greenhouses and greenhouses. True, like all other plants, flowers are often attacked by harmful insects and also suffer from various diseases. How to treat, read the article.
Sometimes, when observing certain plants during the growing season, you cannot decide when you like it best - in spring, summer or autumn? Here is Japanese spirea among these plants. Her appearance is constantly changing. And although I chose to write this article the moment when it blooms, I’m still not sure that I’m right. In spring and autumn, its foliage plays with incredible colors and shades. But, in addition to beauty, it is also an unpretentious shrub.
Anyone who likes to drink invigorating aromatic coffee in the morning will surely enjoy it. grow at home coffee tree at home. This is a tropical plant in the form of an evergreen shrub or tree reaching a height of 5-7 meters in nature, and at home a coffee tree can grow up to 2 meters in height.
Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia when shepherds noticed that goats became very excited after chewing the leaves of the coffee tree. After tasting the leaves, people became convinced that this plant has an invigorating effect on the human body. All parts of the coffee tree contain caffeine, a substance that stimulates the body, but the most caffeine is contained in the fruit beans, which, when roasted, acquire a beautiful color and original coffee aroma.
Genus Coffee (Coffea) belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family and has about 40 species of shrubs and small trees. The homeland of most species of plants from the Coffee genus is Africa, but countries have become the leaders in growing coffee on an industrial scale Latin America- Brazil and Colombia. To obtain grains, the species mainly grown is - Arabian coffee or Arabica coffee (CoffeaArabica), this species is also grown at home as a houseplant.
Arabica coffee is a small evergreen tree or shrub with a lush crown of large dark green shiny leaves. The root system of the coffee tree is compact, so the plant does well in a pot.
The coffee plant is self-fertile; the flowers do not need cross-pollination to set fruit, so you can grow your own crop of coffee beans at home and make a wonderful drink from it. IN natural conditions Flowers and ripening fruits can be seen nearby on coffee trees all year round. At home, coffee blooms only in spring; under favorable conditions, it can bloom again in the fall, and the berry harvest ripens 6-8 months after flowering.
Coffee flowers They look like snow-white stars; they appear in the axils of the upper leaves in inflorescences of 3-6 pieces. After flowering, small fruits are set, which when ripe become bright red or even purple. Coffee berries do not ripen at the same time and are harvested as they ripen. Under the pulp of the fruit there are two oval-shaped gray-green seeds in a thin shell.
To extract coffee beans, the harvested fruits should first be dried in the oven or in the sun. Afterwards, the grain is peeled from the shell and film and fried in a frying pan until it has a characteristic chocolate color. Roasted coffee beans are ground and the drink is prepared according to your favorite recipe.
Coffee at room conditions grown as an ornamental tree. For a tropical plant, the coffee tree is relatively not capricious, tolerates dry apartment air and is quite resistant to insect pests.
Lighting. The coffee tree needs a well-lit place, but without direct sunlight. In the summer, it is better to take the plant out into the garden and place it under the shade of the crowns of tall trees, and in the autumn-winter period it is necessary to additionally turn on the lighting in the room. The coffee tree does not react well to changes in location or even rotation relative to the light source, so immediately think about the location of the apartment so as not to rearrange it in the future.
Coffee, like any other tropical plant, loves warmth. Optimal air temperature for the plant in summer +23...+25 0 C, in winter +18...+20 0 C, but not lower than +15 0 C. The coffee tree does not like heat, proximity to heating partings, drafts and sudden temperature changes; under unfavorable conditions, leaves on the tree will dry out and fall off.
Watering and air humidity. For growth and flowering, it is necessary to maintain optimal humidity in the air and soil in the pot. In spring and summer, the coffee tree needs abundant watering during the period of growth, flowering and fruit set. In the fall, watering is gradually reduced and in winter the plant should be watered after the top layer of soil has dried, then the roots will receive a new flow of air, which has a beneficial effect on the condition of the plant.
The quality of water for irrigation is very important in caring for the plant. Water your coffee only with standing water at room temperature or a little warmer. After abundant watering, drain the water that has accumulated in the pan.
The homeland of Arabian coffee is in the arid regions of Africa, so this plant is adapted to tolerate dry air in an apartment, but responds well to spraying the leaves with warm, soft water.
Transfer. Young coffee plants are replanted annually, increasing the volume of the pot; replant adult plants as needed every 2-3 years. The soil for planting coffee should be slightly acidic and consist of equal parts of turf soil, humus, peat and sand.
For good flowering and fruiting, the coffee tree should be fed every 2 weeks, using complex liquid fertilizer “Ideal” or any other, diluting it according to the recommended rate.
Each spring, a coffee tree is formed by pruning and pinching the tops of the shoots. Trees can be formed in the form of a trunk, cutting out all the lower shoots to the desired height and pinching the tops and elongated upper branches.
Grow a coffee tree You can use it from a seed or root a cut cutting. Freshly picked fresh coffee berries are cleared of pulp and thin shells, the beans are planted in small pots with an earthen mixture to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. The pots are covered with transparent film or glass, placed in a bright, warm place, regularly ventilated and moistened the soil. Coffee shoots appear in about a month. Young seedlings are replanted as they grow, gradually increasing the volume of the pots. In order to root system If the tip of the main root grows better, you should pinch it a little during the first transplant. Plants grown from seeds will bloom in the third or fifth year.
To root cuttings in the spring, cut off the apical green shoots from the middle of the crown, 10-15 cm long. You need to cut the cuttings with a sharp knife, always from the bottom at an oblique, 2-2.5 cm away from the lower bud. Root cuttings in greenhouses or under a transparent jar in a mixture of peat and sand. The upper leaves of the cuttings are cut in half so that they evaporate less moisture, but all leaves cannot be removed. Cuttings root better when high temperature about +25…+27 0 C and high humidity. In a month or a month and a half, new shoots will begin to emerge from the buds, which means that rooting has been successful. Another month later, when the new shoots have a pair of leaves, the established plants are transplanted into pots in a nutritious earthen mixture. When transplanting young plants, bury them at the same level to prevent rotting of the root collar. Coffee trees grown from cuttings can bloom in the first year, but it is better to remove the first buds so that the young plants can devote all their energy to growth.