Divisi
When to plant Arabica coffee in Santiago Maior
Santa Cruz, Cabo Verde
Arabica is the cool-highland coffee — a small evergreen tree kept pruned to about your own height (1.5–2 m) so you can pick standing on the ground.
| Fit | Favourable |
|---|---|
| When to plant (establish) | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 open now |
| Expected harvest | about 2.0 t/ha |
| Bearing cycle | 210–270 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle. |
| Work it takes | 140–280 days per hectare, by hand |
Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.
If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Santiago Maior leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.
Planting after 1 Jan 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Santiago Maior
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 60% |
For arabica coffee in Santiago Maior, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 60%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.
The 2027 season in Santiago Maior
| Rainy seasons | One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it |
|---|---|
| When the rains are expected | August 2027 to November 2027 |
| Rain in a typical year | About 309 mm |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — September looks short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early. |
| What that supports | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season |
| Ground this covers | 2 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 67% of this area. |
| 67% | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 97 growing days · about 340 mm · July to November |
|---|---|
| 33% | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 88 growing days · about 300 mm · August to October |
last updated 16 September 2026
What arabica coffee needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained sandy loam, loam or clay loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 5.0 and 6.0 |
| Spacing | 200 cm between rows, 200 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | potassium, zinc and boron |
What it takes to grow arabica coffee in Santiago Maior
| Planting material | About 2,000 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 80 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 10 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 106 kg per hectare |
| In the shops | A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established. |
| Hand work | 140–280 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a arabica coffee crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.
What to watch for
Grow Arabica coffee with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Santiago Maior as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.
This calendar moves
Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.
Frequently asked questions
Will arabica coffee grow well in Santiago Maior?
Santiago Maior rates as favourable for arabica coffee.
When should I plant arabica coffee in Santiago Maior?
Typically 21 Jan 2026 to 1 Jan 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Santiago Maior, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
