Finca San Antonio

Finca San Antonio also operates its own organic weed control - based on a combination of shade cover, good plant density, weeding by hand and thick ground coverage with organic mulch.

However, San Antonio’s continued organic certification is particularly impressive in the present coffee growing climate in Guatemala, where coffee leaf rust has affected some 70-80% of production across the country. A single spot of rust on a leaf is able to spark an additional 4-6 generations of spores over a 3-5 month period. This means that if the rust isn’t controlled, hundreds of thousands of mature spores can be released at a time. Bourbon is particularly susceptible, and a plant can be killed within a couple of seasons if the rust isn’t adequately dealt with. Controlling rust – so obviously virulent – without chemical fungicides is incredibly difficult. There is evidence that increased exposure to bright light can help control sporification, but overpruning of shade trees and over-exposure to sun can conversely lead to sever declines in long-term plant health and coffee quality.

Sr. Pullin Pivaral has been attentive both to managing shade so as to ensure just the right balance of shade and light for his trees and innovative pruning of the coffee trees themselves to maintain temperatures at optimal levels for controlling the fungus’ spread. Sparing applications of organic-approved copper sulfate fungicide are also made.