4

Nursery Practices

Coffee may be grown from seed or from cloned plants in

the form of cuttings, grafts or tissue cultured plants.
Arabica coffee is most commonly grown from selected
seed unless there are special reasons for using clones. A
number of steps are necessary for production of good
seedlings.

Seed Selection

Arabica coffee should be grown from fresh seed of the

recommended varieties. Seed loses viability within three
months and should not be used after that period unless
properly stored· at low temperature and high humidity.
Select ripe healthy fruit from the required variety and
from plants that have good productivity, low or no
incidence of rust and good cup quality. Pulp cherries,
ferment for one night, wash clean, and dry the parchment
slowly in shade on raised platforms or trays with good
air movement for two to three days. The moisture content
of the seeds should not fall below 10%, otherwise the
viability will be seriously affected. The seeds should be
sorted to eliminate those that are small or abnormally
shaped or are infested with pests.
Nursery Practices 43

When to Start the Nursery

New seed should be planted as soon as possible after

harvest. The longer it is stored, the lower the percentage
of germination and the smaller the plants will be at the
time of transplanting. If possible, coffee nurseries should
be started in December in Lao.
Calculate the Amount of Seed and the Area Required

As coffee seed rapidly looses viability, store the seed in

cool moist conditions (such as the bottom of a
refrigerator). There are 3000 to 4000 coffee seeds per kilo.
The recommended planting density is 3333 plants/ ha at
a spacing of 2 x 1.5 m for Lao. To calculate the area for a
nursery you need to know:

the area to be planted;

plant spacing;
the number of plants per hectare;
how many seeds per kg;
the germination percentage of the seed.
Building Shelter and Beds

Select a frost and flood free area with access to a suitable

water supply. Completely fence the area to keep out
domestic livestock.
Shade House and Plastic Tunnels

Coffee seed is very slow to germinate in December and

January (the coldest months) and clear plastic/
polyethylene should be used to accelerate germination
and plant growth. Figure 1 illustrates the stages of coffee
seedling development.
Construct a shade house with timber poles and a roof
about 1.8 m high. The top of the shade house needs to be
44 Coffee

covered with either assorted plant material such as

bamboo slats or branches, or commercial plastic shade
cloth to give about 50% shade.

Figure 1. Stages of coffee seedling development

To achieve faster seedling growth during cold weather,

plant seed in a clear plastic/polyethylene tunnel beneath
the shade. The tunnel is the width of sowing beds and
about 75 cm high. Use"bamboo hoops for the framework
to support the polyet~ylene sheet cover. The seedbed
must be fully and tightJ.;r enclosed or temperature inside
the tunnel will not increase.

Seedbeds

Use wooden planks, bricks or bamboo as sides for

seed beds which should be about 20 cm high and 1
m wide. Fill beds with a soil and sand mixture of
50% forest soil and 50% river sand. Red soil by
itself is too compact for a good seedbed.
Nursery Practices 45

Level the soil to the height of the sides of the

seedbed.
Seed Planting

Water the seedbed before planting.

Using a pointed stick, make furrows 12 mm deep

across the bed and 100 mm apart.
Plant seed flat side down, with seeds 25 mm apart
within the row.
Cover seed with soil mixture - seed should be
about 12 mm deep after planting.
- Cover beds with rice straw mulch to give extra heat
and to retain soil moisture.
- Water gently. Make sure the seed is not exposed
when watering.

As germination time is highly dependent on soil

temperature, it may take from 30 to 50 days before shoots
appear. Use of plastic/polythene tunnels to retain heat
will speed up germination.

Germination

Germination is induced by placing the seeds in a

sufficiently moist environment to absorb water.
Depending on temperature and moisture, the cotyledon
leaves develop after four to six weeks. See figures 2a and
2b for

Figure 2. Germinating process

46 Coffee

Germination is first seen in the appearance of the radicle

three to four weeks after sowing. The hypocotyl (the part
between soil and cotyledons appears 20 to 25 days later
and carries the seed which is still covered in its
parchment, out of the ground. Shortly afterwards, when
this light covering is detached, the two cotyledon leaves
open. These cotyledon leaves look very different from
ordinary leaves - they are oval-shaped with undulating
edges and 20 to 50 mm in diameter. At the same time, the
terminal bud appears and produces two primary leaves -
they are opposite and in pairs. The ·cotyledons will now
die having completed their nutritional role.
The root system develops actively in the first weeks of
germination; the taproot penetrates deeply into the soil
and forms a great number of roots and rootlets.
The first lateral branch appears four to six weeks after
emergence; the plant will then have 5 to 11 pairs of
leaves. These branches are opposite in pairs at alternate
perpendicular points along the main axis. The primary
branches have buds at each node that will develop either
into secondary branches or, under certain conditions, into
flowers.
Do not let the soil dry out, when seedlings are
developing. However, take care and do not over-water as
seed can suffer from disease problems such as damping-
off. At a height of 200 to 300 mm, the young plants are
ready to be transplanted.

Transplanting

Depending on temperature, coffee seedlings are ready to

be transplanted from the nursery bed into poly bags
about two to three months after sowing. There are four
steps in the process.
Nursery Practices 47

Prepare the potting mixture.

Choose the seedlings.
Plant seedlings in bags.
Care for the seedlings.

Prepare Potting Mixture

Strong black plastic/polyethylene bags with drainage

holes should be used. Bag size should be at least 100 nun
x 250 nun when filled with soil.
A mixture of fertile topsoil and manure or compost
can be used. All soil, manure and compost should be
sieved. The following mixture could be used:

- 5 x 20 L tins of topsoil.
- 1 x 20 L tin of good quality, dry cattle manure or
compost.
200 g of rock phosphate or 0:20:0 NPK ratio
fertilizer.
200 g of dolomite.

Thoroughly mix the ingredients and place in the black

plastic bags. This amount will fill about 40 bags.
Selection of Seedlings

Use the best seedlings with a straight tap root.

Discard seedlings with either a bent taproot (J root)
or those with few root hairs.
Do not use larger seedlings (with more leaves than
the matchstick stage) as these will be too slow in
growing.
Do not use diseased seedlings.
48 Coffee

Plant Seedlings In Bags

Planting should be done in cool, cloudy weather.

Thoroughly water the soil-filled bags to settle the
soil before planting.
- Lift the seedlings using a stick or trowel to prevent
breaking the roots.
- Make a hole about 50 mm deep using either a small
stick or a finger (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Planting the seedlings into plastic

Insert seedling in the hole and then lift the seedling

slightly to open out the roots.
When planting, make sure that the taproot is not
bent.
- Plant seedlings to the same depth as they were
previously planted in the seedbed.
- Water seedlings well.
- Make sure the bags are well supported all around
and in between so they do not fall over. Use a
bamboo or wooden frame to contain the bags and
keep them packed together.

Care for Seedlings

Remove weeds regularly.

If soil becomes hard, soften it by using a trowel to
Nursery Practices 49

break up big, hard clumps of soil into smaller

pieces.
- Water as required to keep the soil damp. Don't
over-water as this can cause damping-off - a
disease caused by a fungus that will kill the plants.
- At three months, apply urea (46:0:0) at 60 gl10 L of
water. This is enough for 100 seedlings. Apply
every 15 days. If leaves become dark green, stop the
procedure.
If you do not use a chemical fertiliser, apply a small
amount of finely crushed dry manure around the
plants.
- Check seedlings every day to make sure they
remain free from pests and disease. Remove bags
with diseased, dead or damaged plants.
Continue to keep plants in shade. Two months
before field planting, gradually remove the shade to
sun-harden the plants.
As the plants grow, separate the poly-bags so there
is sufficient space for the developing plant to
spread. If bags are not separated, the plants grow
tall and weak.

Diseases and Pests

The two common diseases occurring in the nursery are:

Damping-off that appears as areas of dying plants.
Damping-off is caused by a soil-borne fungi often found
in old, diseased potting mixture, over-watering, too much
shade or not enough space between plants. Damping-off
can be avoided by proper preparation in the nursery. It is
also important that new soil is always used in the nursery
beds. If the disease is found, immediate drenching with
either Benlate (Benomyl) or Captan can be carried out.
50 Coffee

Always read the label on the chemical pack and follow

directions.
Cercospora is a fungus, which develops when plants
are under stress caused by too much shade, too much
sun, nitrogen deficiency, over-watering or over-crowding.
This can be avoided by following good management
practices. Immediate control measures involve using
copper sprays. Always read the label on the chemical
pack and follow directions.
Green coffee scale can also be a problem in the
nursery. Scales severely affect plant health as the they
suck the sap from the leaves. Keep the area free from ants
and spray with spraying oils or Carbaryl or use
traditional methods of control.