When to plant Sunflower in Moungo

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Sunflower

Littoral, Cameroon

Known here as tournesol

Sunflower is a tall, upright plant — about 1–2 m, higher than your head — that carries one big flower head on top.

Sunflower in Moungo, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure Rain-fed With irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant 4 Mar 2027 – 2 Sep 2027 opens in 22 weeks 11 Apr 2027 – 9 Aug 2027
Expected harvest about 2.1 t/ha same
Harvest From 2 Jun 2027 to 10 Jan 2028, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest 90–130 days after planting
Work it takes 74–155 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 Apr 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Moungo 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 2 Sep 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Moungo

Rain and temperature 96%
The soil 96%
The lie of the land 60%

For sunflower in Moungo, 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 2026 season in Moungo

When the rains are expectedFebruary 2026 to December 2026
Rain in a typical yearAbout 2,697 mm
This season's rainLeaning 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 heatHotter than usual — about +0.8 °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 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

Sloping ground holds back about 20% of yield here.

What sunflower needs to grow here

Soil it likes well-drained sandy loam, loam or clay loam soil
Soil sourness (pH) Happiest between pH 6.0 and 7.5
Rain it needs About 400–750 mm across the season
Spacing 60 cm between rows, 25 cm between plants
Feed it most with boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

What it takes to grow sunflower in Moungo

Planting materialAbout 50,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 94 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 42 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 168 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 work74–155 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a sunflower 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 Sunflower with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Moungo 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

Sunflower 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 sunflower grow well in Moungo?

Moungo rates as favourable for sunflower.

When should I plant sunflower in Moungo?

Typically 4 Mar 2027 to 2 Sep 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Moungo, 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 Moungo

Keep going

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