Kona Coffee at its Best
by George Yasuda
If planted and cared for properly a coffee orchard can produce an average of 21 pounds of coffee cherry per tree after only 2 years of growth! The industry average is only 7 pounds of coffee per tree.
When you can have great tasting coffee, and a high quality, high yielding, efficient, picturesque Kona coffee orchard why do some settle for less? If done right your farm will bear shiny, dark green, super healthy, eight foot tall Kona coffee trees laden with 10 to 12 pounds of cherry in just one year of growth. By the second year these same trees can reach loads of 20 to 30 pounds of cherry. An added bonus of a healthy and properly planted orchard is that 70 percent of this coffee will yield a high grade of either Fancy or Extra Fancy beans!
Trees can reach the height of 7 feet within the first 10 months of growth. Expert coffee grower emphasizes proper nutrition and correct orchard maintenance to achieve maximum yields. Below: After one and a half years these flowering 11 foot trees will produce nearly 30 pounds of coffee cherry in the coming fall.
Coffee trees when given the right care should live to be more than 100 years old and produce generous amounts of coffee all the way from the first year through its nearly century of growth.
The industry average for coffee production per tree after five to seven years of growth is only 7 pounds of cherry. Why settle for such low numbers when you can achieve nearly 21 pounds per tree after two years? That’s like having one acre produce what the industry average produces in three acres of land.
A guess work approach to growing coffee will result in costly errors over the life of the orchard. Correct care starts even before the first tree is planted. Agriculture and horticulture is a science. Installing and caring for a coffee orchard requires proven techniques in care, nutrition, pruning and several other factors. Cutting corners during installation and care results in higher costs and poor tree performance in the long run.
What makes the difference between a high yielding orchard and a low one you ask. The simple answer is seeking out the proper advice and counseling to assure you of a finely-tuned program, proper foundation work, and time tested techniques researched and developed by Agriculture specialist, George Yasuda of Tiare Lani Coffee, Inc. George can be reached at 808-324-1495 or through email at: tiarelc@gte.net. Come take a drive with George to experience first hand what a high quality, high yielding orchard looks like and be a part of Kona coffee at its best!
Yasuda coffee orchard.
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Story appeared originally in Coffee Times print magazine and appears online for archival purposes only. Any use or reprinting of these stories without the expressed written consent of the author is prohibited.
