Unlikely — Zone Mismatch
robusta coffee (zones 12-11) does not overlap with Louisiana's zone range (8b-10b). Growing outdoors is unlikely without significant protection.
One zone short — what would close it
Robusta Coffee is hardy to zone 12, and the warmest ground in Louisiana is zone 10 — 1 zone short. Planted in open ground it will not survive a Louisiana winter. To grow it here, grow robusta coffee in a hoop house or unheated greenhouse — its modeled 1.5-zone lift covers this gap.
A hoop house or unheated greenhouse is the lift this needs. How a greenhouse changes what you can grow →
Zone math from 12-11 (plant) against 8-10 (Louisiana). Lift modeled by crop_engine.GREENHOUSE_ZONE_MODIFIER_BY_SUBTYPE['hoop_house'] (+1.5 zones) via api/fast_sections.py Unlock Engine v2.
Robusta Coffee in Louisiana — the short answer
Robusta Coffee in Louisiana: hardy in zones 12–11, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 12-11
- Hardy to zone 11b: Tropical Plants Database (Useful Tropical Plants) lists 5 °C, converted to zone 11b, checked Oct 2026. The source rates it slightly hardier than our range. Ceiling: not verified.
- Louisiana zones
- 8b-10b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Jan 30 - Feb 17 – Nov 30 - Dec 8
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 265 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Louisiana spans zones 8b-10b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score robusta coffee against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your parcel report in seconds — read in full free for your first 14 days
Louisiana is not one climate
Louisiana’s winter-low ladder runs across 64 counties, from zone 8.5 in Bienville County to zone 10 in Plaquemines County. That is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between robusta coffee overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 64 counties runs 8.5–9 zones, with a median of 9 zones — a 1.5-zone span end to end.
Measured across 64 Louisiana counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Robusta Coffee Stands in Louisiana
Robusta Coffee is rated for zones 12–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at 50 to 60°F. No Louisiana county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Louisiana winters, not about robusta coffee.
Below the zone 12 floor
64 counties
- Bienville County · zone 8b
- Bossier County · zone 8b
- Caddo County · zone 8b
3 of 64 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Robusta Coffee Needs
- USDA Zones: 12-11
- Sun: Full Sun
Louisiana Has
- USDA Zones: 8b-10b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Jan 30 - Feb 17
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 30 - Dec 8
- Annual Rainfall: 50-65 inches
- Common Soils: Alluvial clay, Muck, Sandy loam
Plant Zone Range (zones 12-11)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Robusta Coffee in Louisiana
The frost window
Across Louisiana, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Jan 30 and Feb 17, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 30 and Dec 8 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 286-day window you can count on — up to 312 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Winter standing
Louisiana runs as cold as USDA zone 8, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for robusta coffee, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether robusta coffee is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Louisiana; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Claiborne County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Robusta Coffee tolerates a wide pH range (pH 4-8) — 4 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Louisiana. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5 and 6.3 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Louisiana soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Louisiana site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
Your land, not the state average
SSURGO maps about 45.5% of Louisiana as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and the class flips parcel to parcel. Robusta Coffee sits mid-range for drought tolerance, so either extreme can cost you — your soil map unit, not the state average, is the real answer.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Louisiana soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
What Else to Consider for Robusta Coffee in Louisiana
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Louisiana growers also need to think about:
Extreme humidity and rainfall promote rot and fungal diseases
Poor drainage in delta and coastal areas
Hurricane damage risk from June through November
Growing robusta coffee here specifically
Robusta Coffee roots run medium and prefer pH 4.0–8.0, but drainage comes first here: SSURGO maps about 45.5% of Louisiana as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and wet ground rots its crown before pH ever matters.
Plant robusta coffee on a raised, gravel-amended berm so water drains fast and the crown stays dry. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Louisiana grower, not just robusta coffee — is covered on the Louisiana growing guide.
Timing shifts within Louisiana
Louisiana isn't one climate. In Claiborne County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about Mar 2 — roughly 19 days later than the recorded state median — so plant robusta coffee to your county's window, not the statewide date.
County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Where in Louisiana Robusta Coffee Is Zone-Hardy
Robusta Coffee is rated for USDA zones 12–11. No Louisiana county reaches it. Even Plaquemines County, the state’s mildest winter at zone 10a, sits below the plant’s zone 12 floor — so in open ground this one needs winter protection here, or a container that comes under cover.
Across those 64 counties Louisiana’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 8b in Bienville County to zone 10a in Plaquemines County — 1.5 USDA zones of spread, which is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. None of that range reaches the band robusta coffee needs, so here the statewide answer really is the answer.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. Robusta Coffee’s zone 12–11 band: Hardy to zone 11b: Tropical Plants Database (Useful Tropical Plants) lists 5 °C, converted to zone 11b, checked Oct 2026. The source rates it slightly hardier than our range. Ceiling: not verified.. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Robusta Coffee draws honeybees (moderate value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, robusta coffee can only work that bloom inside Louisiana's frost window — roughly 298 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Jan 30 - Feb 17) and closing at the first (Nov 30 - Dec 8), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Good to Know Before You Plant Robusta Coffee
Robusta Coffee is listed as toxic to dogs, cats (all) at a moderate level. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. Most listed plants only cause brief upset — a raised bed or a fenced corner usually keeps curious pets clear.
Louisiana Cooperative Extension
For Louisiana-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for robusta coffee, the canonical source is LSU AgCenter. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing Robusta Coffee in Louisiana
When can I plant Robusta Coffee in Louisiana?
Louisiana's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Jan 30 and Feb 17, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 30 and Dec 8 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Robusta Coffee, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Louisiana and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Robusta Coffee grown in across Louisiana?
Louisiana spans USDA hardiness zones 8b-10b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Robusta Coffee is listed for zones 12-11, which do not overlap them, so there is no zone in Louisiana where this page can call outdoor growing reliable. A parcel report resolves your own address's zone.
How many frost-free days does a typical Louisiana site have?
A typical Louisiana site sees ~298 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Robusta Coffee needs 270+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Claiborne, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
How should I amend the soil for Robusta Coffee in Louisiana?
Robusta Coffee tolerates pH 4-8 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 4-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Louisiana site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Robusta Coffee actually grow on my specific land in Louisiana?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores robusta coffee against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Louisiana
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores robusta coffee against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Louisiana robusta coffee averages can't show:
We read public map data around Louisiana — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Louisiana robusta coffee average
Explore More
Growing guides for robusta coffee
Explore Louisiana county by county
Louisiana carries 64 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for robusta coffee there:
Where else robusta coffee grows
Robusta Coffee's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Louisiana in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Louisiana
Louisiana has a growing page for 1,024 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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