Coffee
Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica is the species responsible for roughly 60-80% of the world's coffee supply, and yes, you absolutely can grow it in your living room. It makes a handsome, glossy-leaved houseplant that produces fragrant white jasmine-scented flowers after 3-4 years, followed by bright red berries that each contain two coffee beans. Growing it to actual harvest quantity is a long game, but even as a purely ornamental plant it earns its pot space.
How to grow Coffee
bright indirect light (3-6 feet
Prefers consistently moist (not wet)
50%
60-80°F
Rich, well-draining, slightly acidic soil
Stem cuttings in spring, or
Spider mites, aphids, and whiteflies
Fun Facts
Coffea arabica is not just a regular diploid species — it is an allotetraploid, meaning it arose from a natural hybridization between two other coffee species (C. canephora and C. eugenioides) somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million years ago. Your houseplant has a genuinely weird genetic history.
Toxic to pets
Mildly toxic to cats, dogs, horses, and humans according to the ASPCA. Contains caffeine, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, elevated heart rate, and nervous system effects in pets. The risk increases with quantity ingested.
Sources
- Coffea arabica - Plants of the World Online, Kew Science (opens in new tab)Botanical Garden
- Coffea arabica - Plants of the World Online, Kew Science (opens in new tab)Botanical Garden
- Coffea arabica - Wikipedia (opens in new tab)Reference
- Coffea arabica - Wikipedia (opens in new tab)Reference
- Coffee Plant Care Indoors (Coffea arabica) - Smart Garden Guide (opens in new tab)Reference
- Coffee Plant Care Indoors (Coffea arabica) - Smart Garden Guide (opens in new tab)Reference
- Growing Coffee Plant Indoors: Coffea arabica is a Beautiful Houseplant (opens in new tab)Reference
- Growing Coffee Plant Indoors: Coffea arabica is a Beautiful Houseplant (opens in new tab)Reference
- Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants - ASPCA (opens in new tab)Reference
- Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants - ASPCA (opens in new tab)Reference