Divisi
When to plant Sweet orange in Homa Bay
Kenya
Known here as chungwa · machungwa
The sweet orange is an evergreen fruit tree — plant it once and, cared for well, it feeds your family and earns money for 20–30 years.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Favourable | |
| When to plant (establish) | 31 Jan 2027 – 21 Apr 2027 opens in 18 weeks | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 21.2 t/ha | about 40.0 t/ha |
| Bearing cycle | 210–360 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle. | |
| Work it takes | 86–183 days per hectare, by hand | |
| Rain meets its needs | 97% | |
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 2 Mar 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
No seasonal forecast reaches Homa Bay yet, so these dates follow the rains it usually gets rather than this year's.
Planting after 21 Apr 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Homa Bay
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 88% |
For sweet orange in Homa Bay, 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 2026/27 season in Homa Bay
| When the rains are expected | February 2026 to January 2027 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,048 mm in a typical farming district |
| Across its districts | From about 836 mm in the driest of 8 districts to about 1,256 mm in the wettest |
| This season's rain | Leaning wet — January, February, November and December look heavier than usual. Make sure water can drain off the field; a wet year does more damage through waterlogging and disease than through the rain itself. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +0.9 °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 | 5 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area. |
| 44% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 322 growing days · about 1,090 mm · February to January |
|---|---|
| 20% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 217 growing days · about 840 mm · February to June |
| 13% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 235 growing days · about 900 mm · February to December |
| 7% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 273 growing days · about 980 mm · February to January |
| 5% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 365 growing days · about 1,320 mm · December to December |
last updated 16 September 2026 · from all 8 areas within it
Frost and pest pressure hold back about 15% of yield here.
What sweet orange needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained sandy loam or loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 6.0 and 6.5 |
| Spacing | 600 cm between rows, 600 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, zinc and boron |
What it takes to grow sweet orange in Homa Bay
| Planting material | About 300 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 42 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 8 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 53 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 | 86–183 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a sweet orange 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 Sweet orange with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Homa Bay 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.
Sweet orange 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 sweet orange grow well in Homa Bay?
Homa Bay rates as favourable for sweet orange.
When should I plant sweet orange in Homa Bay?
Typically 31 Jan 2027 to 21 Apr 2027, typical season.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Homa Bay, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
