Divisi
When to plant Sweet orange in Gairo
Morogoro, United Republic of Tanzania
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) | 17 Oct 2026 – 6 Nov 2026 opens in 2 weeks | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 16.4 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 | 91% | |
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 27 Oct 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Gairo is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.
Planting after 6 Nov 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Gairo
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 88% |
For sweet orange in Gairo, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 88%. 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 2026/27 season in Gairo
| Rainy seasons | One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it |
|---|---|
| When the rains are expected | November 2026 to May 2027 |
| Rain in a typical year | About 684 mm |
| This season's rain | Rain close to usual — plan around about 684 mm falling roughly when it always does |
| 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 one full main crop, 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 74% of this area. |
| 74% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 225 growing days · about 740 mm · November to June |
|---|---|
| 16% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 249 growing days · about 880 mm · October to July |
| 5% | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 176 growing days · about 640 mm · November to May |
| 4% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 251 growing days · about 850 mm · October to July |
last updated 16 September 2026
Limited water holds back about 35% 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 Gairo
| Planting material | About 300 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 33 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 7 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 41 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 Gairo 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 Gairo?
Gairo rates as favourable for sweet orange.
When should I plant sweet orange in Gairo?
Typically 17 Oct 2026 to 6 Nov 2026, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Gairo, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
