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How to grow Robusta coffee
Coffea canephora · Rubiaceae
Robusta (Coffea canephora) is a hardy evergreen coffee tree of the warm lowlands — bigger, tougher and higher-yielding than highland Arabica, and far better at shrugging off leaf rust. It carries one strict rule: a coffee flower cannot set a berry with its own pollen. So you must plant several different kinds (clones or seedlings) side by side that flower at the same time — with the help of bees, they pollinate each other. Plant it once and, cared for well, one tree bears cherries for many years.
Ksd5 · CC0 
Gaurav Pant · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Days to maturity
- 270–330 days
- Row spacing
- 275 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 275 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will robusta coffee actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Robusta coffee
robusta coffee · Congo coffee · café robusta · mmwanyi · café-conilon · kahawa
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing robusta coffee, stage by stage
Raise clean young trees, plant several different types together so they cross-pollinate, then each year feed, prune, beat coffee wilt and the berry borer, and pick and dry the ripe red cherries.
- Raise clean young trees and prepare the site
- Plant several types together and settle them in
- Build the frame, prune, and stop coffee wilt
- Flowering — get the cross-pollination right
- Fill the berries and beat the borer
- Pick the ripe red cherries
- Dry the cherries and hull the beans
16 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for robusta coffee — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack robusta coffee
2 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your robusta coffee right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does robusta coffee take to grow?
Robusta coffee takes about 270–330 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for robusta coffee?
Space robusta coffee rows about 275 cm apart, with roughly 275 cm between plants within the row.
What pests and diseases attack robusta coffee?
The ones covered in this guide are Antestia bug, Brown eye spot, Coffee berry borer. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow robusta coffee with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first