The Best Beginner Plant (Part One)
A series about the best plants for beginners (and no, it is not a succulent plant).
I think that an amazing beginner plant is a Coffee Plant (Coffea arabica), and here’s why.
They communicate with you! No, literally.
When a Coffee Plant needs water, its leaves will droop dramatically, forming a cone-like shape. When they’re well watered, their leaves will perk up and reach upwards towards the sky.
I water mine about every week, to every two weeks. I have no set schedule, I simply water when it tells me it’s thirsty!
When the tips of the Coffee Plant’s leaves are brown, it’s telling you that they need more humidity! All you have to do is spray their leaves with water (or use a humidifier) once or twice a day! If their tips aren’t brown then great! Your plant will thrive.
Worried about sunlight? No need! This plant prefers moderate to bright light! Putting them next to a window that receives a good amount of sun is perfect for these talkative plants! If their leaves begin to turn brown, not just on the tips, this may be them telling you that it’s too hot! Reduce the sun they get by just a little bit.
Coffee plants will reward you for all your hard work! It is a long process, but with patience, repotting, and correct care, your coffee plant could reach up to 6 feet in the span of three to five years. Throughout those years, your coffee plant may even flower and produce coffee beans! (source)
With a combination of a communicative plant, easy-care, and the prospect of growing your own coffee beans, I believe that this is the perfect plant for a beginner if you are looking for something less generic than a succulent plant.
Let’s face it, everybody recommends succulents as your first plant; but, in reality, they don’t communicate as the Coffee Plant does, and they are usually finicky and unpredictable! But that’s a topic for another time.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, and aside from the one source I linked in the above paragraph, everything I have written comes from my own personal experience with caring for Coffee Plants.
