Plants on the right are the good ones. We have put them in rows to get air between them and with the morning sun.
Plants to the left are trash. We sorted through them today....they will need to be returned to the vivero from which they came - not worth the 40 cents a piece they cost.
Plants to the left are trash. We sorted through them today....they will need to be returned to the vivero from which they came - not worth the 40 cents a piece they cost.
Frantically looking for about five thousand baby coffee plants to put into the farm in May/June when it starts to rain. That will give me about 5.5K to plant out.
Only about 500 out of the 1000 in the picture will be worth taking care of, the rest are trash. No point putting in less than a perfect plant as the real cost is in caring for it.
Ideally seeds should have been sown in December for planting six months later. So, I am too late this year to do my own and was not geared up to do it anyway. I need to buy from the viveros around town. Unfortunately, this is fraught with problems. People do a better job when it is for themselves or their own farm, and that is just a fact of life here.
Planting coffee seeds should not be so hard but apparently it is. Often the bags are not stuffed with soil so the roots do not grow all the way down but stop half way. Sometimes, the beans were planted the wrong way up so the root is crooked. Sometimes, they are just not cared for right and get rust and other fungal diseases. They also need to be fertilized often to get a good start.
Looking for a mixture of varietals. Interestingly all we have found in the nurseries around town is Catuai and Geisha.
Geisha although much heralded is not perfect for my farm. The full taste will not come out at my altitude and I am left with an odd sized bean to try to roast with the rest. Judging by the quantities of Geisha now being produced it looks like Boquete will be half Geisha in 10 yrs time. I am not sure that is a good thing.
Most of the farm is already Catuai. It is a very nice coffee but susceptible to red rust and other fungal problems. This is a big issue right now and almost every year at this time on my farm and others around town.
I think we will have to start our own vivero to start growing coffee beans in black sacks. I want to plant some Caturra and more Typica. I like the idea of Caturra as it is disease resistant and frankly a better looking bush to put closer to the house. They tend to be shorter bushier plants and easy to pick.
Only about 500 out of the 1000 in the picture will be worth taking care of, the rest are trash. No point putting in less than a perfect plant as the real cost is in caring for it.
Ideally seeds should have been sown in December for planting six months later. So, I am too late this year to do my own and was not geared up to do it anyway. I need to buy from the viveros around town. Unfortunately, this is fraught with problems. People do a better job when it is for themselves or their own farm, and that is just a fact of life here.
Planting coffee seeds should not be so hard but apparently it is. Often the bags are not stuffed with soil so the roots do not grow all the way down but stop half way. Sometimes, the beans were planted the wrong way up so the root is crooked. Sometimes, they are just not cared for right and get rust and other fungal diseases. They also need to be fertilized often to get a good start.
Looking for a mixture of varietals. Interestingly all we have found in the nurseries around town is Catuai and Geisha.
Geisha although much heralded is not perfect for my farm. The full taste will not come out at my altitude and I am left with an odd sized bean to try to roast with the rest. Judging by the quantities of Geisha now being produced it looks like Boquete will be half Geisha in 10 yrs time. I am not sure that is a good thing.
Most of the farm is already Catuai. It is a very nice coffee but susceptible to red rust and other fungal problems. This is a big issue right now and almost every year at this time on my farm and others around town.
I think we will have to start our own vivero to start growing coffee beans in black sacks. I want to plant some Caturra and more Typica. I like the idea of Caturra as it is disease resistant and frankly a better looking bush to put closer to the house. They tend to be shorter bushier plants and easy to pick.
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