When to plant Sweet pepper in Sao Tome and Principe

Sweet pepper (bell pepper, capsicum) is a warm-season vegetable grown for its thick-walled, mild, juicy fruit — the kind you slice into relish, stew and salad.

Sweet pepper in Sao Tome and Principe, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	20 Jul 2027 – 29 Aug 2027 opens in 42 weeks	2 Mar 2026 – 28 Oct 2026
Expected harvest	about 15.8 t/ha	about 21.5 t/ha
Harvest	From 17 Nov 2027 to 25 Feb 2028, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	120–180 days after planting
Work it takes	100–210 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 9 Aug 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Sao Tome and Principe 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 29 Aug 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Sao Tome and Principe

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	76%
The lie of the land	45%

For sweet pepper in Sao Tome and Principe, 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 2026/27 season in Sao Tome and Principe

When the rains are expected	August 2026 to July 2027
Rain in a typical year	About 1,877 mm in a typical farming district
Across its districts	From about 1,692 mm in the driest of 7 districts to about 2,625 mm in the wettest
This season's rain	Leaning dry — January, February, 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.
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	2 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area.

Agro-ecological zones covering this area
68%	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 2,800 mm · January to December
32%	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 2,580 mm · January to December

last updated 18 September 2026 · from all 7 areas within it

Sloping ground holds back about 35% of yield here.

What sweet pepper 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	60 cm between rows, 40 cm between plants
Feed it most with	potassium, nitrogen and calcium

What it takes to grow sweet pepper in Sao Tome and Principe

Planting material	About 38,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 32 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 9 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 55 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	100–210 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a sweet pepper 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 Sweet pepper with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Sao Tome and Principe 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

Sweet pepper in nearby districts

How to grow Sweet pepper, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will sweet pepper grow well in Sao Tome and Principe?

Sao Tome and Principe rates as favourable for sweet pepper.

When should I plant sweet pepper in Sao Tome and Principe?

Typically 20 Jul 2027 to 29 Aug 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Sao Tome and Principe, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.