Six weeks after sowing, the little plant comes up from the soil.
When the seedlings are three months old, the first two leaves are well developed.
This is the moment to take the seedlings out of the seed beds and to transplant them into a nursery.
In removing the seedlings from the seed beds, be very careful not to break the roots.
Sort out the young seedlings
Throw away diseased seedlings and seedlings with a twisted tap root;
Use only the finest seedlings, those with a tap root that is quite straight.
TRANSPLANTING THE SEEDLINGS INTO A NURSERY
Preparing the nursery plot
Choose a bigger, flat and fertile plot next to the seed plot.
Till the soil deeply, to 40 centimeters.
Break all the lumps of earth.
Put in a lot of manure.
Transplanting the seedlings
Make beds of soil 1.2 meters wide, with 60-centimetre paths in between.
Mark out furrows, leaving 30 centimeters between one furrow and the next.
Dig holes, leaving 30 centimeters between one hole and the next.
The holes should be 15 centimeters deep.
Plant the seedlings in the holes, pack the soil down well around the root.
Be very careful not to twist the tap root, and do not bury the crown.
Looking after the nursery
In order to protect the nursery from the sun, put up a screen of palm fronds above each bed.
But when the little plants grow bigger, give them less shade, so that the coffee trees get used to the sun.
Young coffee trees need a lot of water.
Water them often.
If any seedlings die, replace them.
Protect the coffee seedlings from diseases and insects.
Pull out diseased seedlings.
Apply treatment for diseases.
Kill insects with DDT.
Seedlings can stay in the nursery
4 to 5 months if you want to plant them during the next rainy season,
12 months or more if you want to plant them only next year.
When you remove the coffee tree seedlings from the nursery bed in order to plant them in the plantation, be very careful not to break the roots.
Sort out the seedlings: throw away diseased seedlings and seedlings with a twisted tap root.