Divisi
When to plant Lemon in Ngbala
Sangha, Congo
The lemon (Citrus limon) is a citrus tree, not a yearly crop — you plant it once and it can crop for decades, flowering and fruiting almost all year round.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Favourable | |
| When to plant (establish) | 11 Feb 2026 – 24 Sep 2026 closed for this season | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 12.6 t/ha | about 29.0 t/ha |
| Work it takes | 102–218 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 13 Mar 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
No seasonal forecast reaches Ngbala yet, so these dates follow the rains it usually gets rather than this year's.
Planting after 24 Sep 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Ngbala
| Rain and temperature | 60% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 60% |
For lemon in Ngbala, rain and temperature is the tightest of the three at 60%. This one is fixed. It is why the planting window above is where it is — hitting those dates is the whole of your control here.
The 2026 season in Ngbala
| When the rains are expected | January 2026 to December 2026 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,409 mm |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — September, October, November and December look 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. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +1.1 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can. |
| What that supports | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season |
| Ground this covers | One kind of ground throughout. |
last updated 16 September 2026
Temperature holds back about 45% of yield here.
What lemon needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained loam or sandy loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 6.0 and 6.5 |
| Spacing | 650 cm between rows, 650 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, zinc and boron |
What it takes to grow lemon in Ngbala
| Planting material | About 240 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 25 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 5 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 32 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 | 102–218 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a lemon 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 Lemon with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Ngbala 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.
Lemon 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 lemon grow well in Ngbala?
Ngbala rates as favourable for lemon.
When should I plant lemon in Ngbala?
Typically 11 Feb 2026 to 24 Sep 2026, typical season.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Ngbala, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
