Divisi
When to plant Sweet orange in Nyeri Town
Nyeri, 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) | 28 Oct 2025 – 8 Oct 2026 open now | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 |
| Expected harvest | 17.1–17.3 t/ha | about 27.7 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-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 8 Oct 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's outlook for Nyeri Town leans wet. Plant at the early end of the window, and make sure water can drain off the field — a wet year does more damage through waterlogging than through the rain itself.
Planting after 8 Oct 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Nyeri Town
| Rain and temperature | 88% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 45% |
For sweet orange in Nyeri Town, 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 2025 season in Nyeri Town
| When the rains are expected | December 2025 to December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,038 mm |
| This season's rain | Leaning wet — 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 +1.0 °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 | 4 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 28% of this area. |
| 28% | 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 1,050 mm · December to December |
|---|---|
| 28% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 262 growing days · about 960 mm · September to July |
| 22% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 281 growing days · about 910 mm · September to June |
| 6% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 282 growing days · about 950 mm · February to July |
last updated 30 September 2026
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 Nyeri Town
| Planting material | About 300 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 35 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 7 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 43 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 Nyeri Town 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 Nyeri Town?
Nyeri Town rates as favourable for sweet orange.
When should I plant sweet orange in Nyeri Town?
Typically 28 Oct 2025 to 8 Oct 2026, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Nyeri Town, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
