Winter Coffee Tree Care Tips

Summary: Winter can be real tough on container-grown coffee trees in cooler climates (temperatures are colder, the air is dry, and sunlight is lacking) so these tips are meant to help provide the best possible indoor winter care.

As you can probably imagine, winter is not a coffee tree’s favourite season. Winter can be extremely hard on coffee plants, since they grow naturally in year-long hot, tropical climates. Regardless of whether your plant lives outside in summer and indoors in winter, or whether they live indoors all year long, winter brings a new set of environmental factors.

These include: less natural light, less humidity, hot, dry air from electric indoor heating, and the possibility of cold drafts. All have the potential to a shock a delicate coffee plant.

Signs that a coffee plant is suffering from the ‘winter blues’ include: an increase in dried leaves, drooping/wilting leaves, and yellowing leaves. If you notice any of these occurring, don’t be dismayed! It’s normal. And there are things you can do to alleviate these issues, so that with good care, once spring hits, the plant will quickly recover.

To give your indoor coffee plant the best conditions during the cold season, here is a list of my winter coffee tree care tips.

List of Coffee Tree Care Tips for Winter:

Take a step back and consider the overall environment. Is there enough natural light? Are there any heaters nearby? Are there any cold drafts? The answers to these questions will help you decide whether or not to relocate the plant to a new part of the house, as well as what measure(s) to take next.
Keep plants away from any cold drafts, if possible. An unsealed window or a door that opens constantly are common sources of cold winter drafts, so consider moving your plant to a place where it isn’t at risk of being chilled.
Keep plants away from electric heaters, if possible. Electric heat can scald the leaves and cause the soil to dry out at a much faster rate, so move coffee plants away from any direct sources of electric indoor heat. (My heaters, unfortunately, all happen to be close to my windows, so I have to be extra vigilant and I tend to have to water my coffee trees more often. Also, if sitting one on top or above a heater, I first place a thick, wood board between the heater and the plant to create a heat barrier).
Is there enough natural light? If not, and even if you think there is, it doesn’t hurt to use a grow light indoors. Grow lights are gentle, so they won’t scald the plant as long as they’re placed at least a few inches away from the leaves; and having ample light will really help with new leaf growth throughout winter.
Consider trying to increase humidity around the plant. Coffee plants love humidity so anything that can be done to increase the moisture in the air around them is helpful in ensuring their leaves don’t dry out too much. Misting provides instant moisture relief, and here are some other ways of increasing humidity indoors.
Monitor soil moisture more closely. Sometimes a dry surrounding environment can suck moisture out of the soil so fast that it’s completely dry before you know it. Try not to let this happen. While you do want to water a bit less often in winter, you don’t want to dry out a coffee plant either. So check the soil moisture more frequently in winter and adjust the watering as needed. For more, see my post on proper watering of a coffee tree in a container.
Collect dried leaves and make mulch. This is a great winter activity, since an increase in dried, fallen leaves can be nearly unavoidable. Use them to make a mulch that helps the soil retain moisture. See my post on how to do that here.
Clean dust off the leaves. Removing the dust that collects on a plant’s leaves helps them absorb more sunlight and it makes them look good! Winter is a great time to make leaf-dusting a part of your coffee tree care routine. All that’s needed is a damp cloth to wipe the leaves.
Check for pests. Indoor environments can be stagnant (without much airflow) and this, matched with the fact that it’s always nice and warm inside, creates inviting conditions for pests to settle in. Moreover, other indoor plants (especially new ones from a garden store) are all-too-often a source of insect pests. Inspect the undersides of the leaves and the small spaces along the trunk of your coffee plant regularly for pests during winter. If any mealybugs or other harmful insects are found, separate the infected plant right away, and remove the pests as fast as possible.
Continue to fertilize every 2-3 weeks. Coffee plants require nutrient-rich soil to thrive, so I recommend feeding them more often in the summer (every 2-3 weeks) and slightly less often in winter (half that dose every 2-3 weeks). A healthy balance of fertilizing and moisture in the winter will help leaves stay nice and green, instead of turning yellow.