When to plant Arabica coffee in Mouloundou

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Arabica coffee

Ogooue-Lolo, Gabon

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.

Arabica coffee in Mouloundou, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure Rain-fed With irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant (establish) 20 Jul 2026 – 7 Dec 2026 open now 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest about 1.7 t/ha same
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 29 Aug 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Mouloundou 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 7 Dec 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Mouloundou

Rain and temperature 96%
The soil 76%
The lie of the land 76%

For arabica coffee in Mouloundou, the soil is the tightest of the three at 76%. This is the one you can actually move. Lime raises a sour soil, manure and compost lift what it holds, and both work within a season or two — money spent here changes the answer.

The 2025 season in Mouloundou

When the rains are expectedAugust 2025 to August 2025
Rain in a typical yearAbout 1,637 mm
This season's rainLeaning dry. Plant at the early end of the window and favour quicker, more drought-tolerant crops.
What that supportsenough rain for a long crop, or two in a year, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this coversOne kind of ground throughout.

last updated 17 September 2026

Frost and pest pressure hold back about 15% of yield here.

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 Mouloundou

Planting materialAbout 2,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 68 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 8 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 90 kg per hectare
In the shopsA 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 work140–280 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

Pest/disease risk — manageableSoil pH outside the crop's rangeCorrect soil pH (lime)

Grow Arabica coffee with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Mouloundou 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.

Or check your field first

Arabica coffee in nearby districts

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 Mouloundou?

Mouloundou rates as favourable for arabica coffee.

When should I plant arabica coffee in Mouloundou?

Typically 20 Jul 2026 to 7 Dec 2026, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Mouloundou, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.

Also worth considering in Mouloundou

Keep going

Timing is one question. What the crop needs at every stage, what attacks it and where to sell it are the others.