Divisi
When to plant Lemon in Turkana
Kenya
Known here as limau · ndimu
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.
| Fit | Favourable |
|---|---|
| When to plant (establish) | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 open now |
| Expected harvest | about 35.5 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 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Turkana 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 Turkana
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 45% |
For lemon in Turkana, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 45%. 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 Turkana
| Rainy seasons | One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it |
|---|---|
| When the rains are expected | March 2027 to September 2027 |
| Rain in a typical year | About 562 mm in a typical farming district |
| Across its districts | From about 210 mm in the driest of 6 districts to about 1,087 mm in the wettest |
| 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. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +2.4 °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 one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season |
| Ground this covers | 4 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area. |
| 80% | too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season · about 350 mm |
|---|---|
| 7% | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 141 growing days · about 540 mm · March to September |
| 6% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 256 growing days · about 730 mm · March to December |
| 5% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 283 growing days · about 990 mm · March to December |
last updated 16 September 2026 · from all 6 areas within it
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 Turkana
| Planting material | About 240 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 71 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 14 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 89 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 Turkana 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 Turkana?
Turkana rates as favourable for lemon.
When should I plant lemon in Turkana?
Typically 21 Jan 2026 to 1 Jan 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Turkana, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
