My travel report

Part 4 - At 30° Celsius in the highlands

How long does it take for a coffee plant to bear cherries and thus produce a yield? Coffee plants need about five years before you can pick them for the first time. We were allowed to explore a whole farm of such plants cross-country! Five years ago, coffee farmer Andrés Quintanilla bought an old plantation and replanted it. About 25,000 coffee plants were planted and tended here. Now they are carrying the first cherries, which is of course a reason for Andrés to be happy!

Learning to read coffee plants

We started our trip at an altitude of 1.200 meters and started at 30 degrees. With us were two advisors and the Foreman (the Foreman is the deputy of Andrés on the farm, which means he coordinates the work etc.) of the plantation. They explained to Andrés how to cut the plants in the best possible way to get the best possible yield. For us it was exciting to see what you can see in the plants. For example, you can see from the branches whether the last months were rainy months or dry months.

The dark areas grew during the dry months and the light ones during the rainy season. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019

You can also compare the branches with the rings on trees, by which you can tell how old the plant is.

After we had visited the plantation for two hours and meanwhile we were quite exhausted, we reached our destination: the house of the Foreman. From there we drove back to the nursery and started to enter all shadow plants in tables. Why this is so important, I will explain in the following article!

Our way through the plantation. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019

Read part 5 here in the WEBER Nachrichtenblog!