Ideas & Opportunities

In maintaining a coffee plantation, you have to prune and rejuvenate your coffee plants every once in a while. Entrepreneur.com.ph asked the experts from the Nestle Demo and Experimental Farm for some tips on how to keep your coffee trees in tip top shape.

Pruning

1. Remove unproductive plant parts like dead twigs and branches to optimize production and shape up the trees.
2. Remove all water sprouts regularly.
3. Use as mulch all remove plant parts except those infected. Burn plants infected with pests and diseases.

Rejuvenation

1.  Stump old trees that are uneconomically harvestable to make them young and productive. This is usually done every 6 to 8 years.
2.  To rejuvenate the coffee trees:

1.  Cut the main stem diagonally at a slant with a pruning saw or power saw one foot above the ground.
2.  Paint the open wood with used oil.
3.  Select 3 healthy sprouts to serve as new stems.
4.  Weed, fertilize and prune rejuvenated trees regularly.

To learn more about planting coffee, click here for more tips.