While a lot of us are enjoying the pleasure of sipping a great cup of coffee at any time, have you ever wonder how does a coffee bean produce? Coffee production is not just throwing a coffee bean on the ground, and wait for it to grow. Growing coffee beans has a lot of work to do so, here’s how the coffee production in the making.
1. Planting
In coffee production, the planting process is the most crucial part. To get the coffee beans from the plant coffee farmers needs to maintain the seeds humidity level, with a moisture content of 13 to 14 percent, before placing the seeds into the bed with sand. Having the right moisture of the coffee beans is essential in producing a healthy coffee sprouts.
2. Seeds Germination
Seeds germination is important in having a healthy sprout of coffee beans that is why they need a good sprouting bed to produce a healthy of spring. Germination provides protection and gives nutrients for the coffee beans initial development.
Planting the coffee beans is placed in a disinfected washed sand brought from the river. Coffee produce with the washed sand gives healthy roots that are ready for planting in soil. The sprouting period takes up to 60 days that is why the soil bed should be 30 centimeters in a layer for the coffee roots to sprout perfectly.
3. Seed Beds
After two months of germination, the seedling is now ready to planted into plastic bags with soil. Each bags has two plants and well kept in a shadowed nursery.
The plants now will stay in the nursery for 5 to 6 months until it reaches its ideal size and ready to be transplanted in the field.
4. Preparing The Farm
Before the transplant, the main vertical roots are clipped to help promote the horizontal roots which have better access to water.
In planting, there should be enough distance between each plant 1 meter between the trees and 1.50 meters between rows. In steep areas coffee should be planted across the slope to prevent soil erosion.
5. Growth
One of the most important practices in coffee production is crop nutrition, that is practice two months before the harvest and two months after the second harvest. This process helps the tree produce a quality cherries.
6. Production
The life cycle of a coffee tree is between 5 to 6 years depending on growth. Flowering occurs after dry periods approximately 32 weeks after blossoming the ripe cherry will be ready to harvest.
7. Harvest
There are various harvest cycles due to the wet and dry seasons in Columbia. The cherries were picked when it’s completely ripe and has an intense red color.
Overripe cherries produce a bad taste that is why in picking cherries you need to be selective, and the harvesting process is done every 15 days.
Here’s more to know about the coffee production
