Depending on plant, the leaves may need shade too. The coffee plant generally requires some direct sun light for a portion of the day, so total permanent shade is not a good practice. Forest shade has a problem with the type of plants surrounding the coffee tree. The wrong type of forest plants can take nutrients from the soil or actually strangle the coffee plant. The coffee plant does not do well in high wind either.
Wind dries the leaves out quickly.
Consequently, the drying effect, quick temperature changes, and the transportation of unwanted seeds makes windy conditions undesirable for coffee growing. Typically, the coffee plant can produce berries for about 60 years but most commercial coffee operations limit the life of the coffee plant to about 20 years. Some coffee growers feel earlier termination is appropriate. Although the coffee tree produces berries at the age of 3, it starts producing at about 5 years old. The two basic propagation methods both work with the coffee plant, grown from seeds, or cloned from cuttings.