When to plant Tea in Rebola

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Tea

Bioko Norte, Guinea Ecuatorial

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is an evergreen highland bush you grow not for one harvest but as a living plucking table — a flat-topped hedge, kept pruned to about waist height, that pushes out soft new shoots again and again for a whole generation.

Tea in Rebola, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure Rain-fed With irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant (establish) 1 Feb 2027 – 14 Sep 2027 opens in 18 weeks 1 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2026
Expected harvest about 2.7 t/ha same
Work it takes 213–430 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 3 Mar 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Rebola 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 14 Sep 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Rebola

Rain and temperature 88%
The soil 76%
The lie of the land 60%

For tea in Rebola, 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 Rebola

When the rains are expectedJanuary 2026 to January 2026
Rain in a typical yearAbout 2,516 mm
This season's rainLeaning dry — January looks 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 +0.6 °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 covers2 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 76% of this area.
Agro-ecological zones covering this area
76% enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 345 growing days · about 2,690 mm · January to January
24% enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 334 growing days · about 2,520 mm · February to January

last updated 17 September 2026

What tea needs to grow here

Soil it likes well-drained sandy loam or loam soil
Soil sourness (pH) Happiest between pH 4.5 and 5.5
Spacing 120 cm between rows, 60 cm between plants
Feed it most with nitrogen, potassium and zinc

What it takes to grow tea in Rebola

Planting materialAbout 12,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 135 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 20 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 68 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 work213–430 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a tea 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 — manageable

Grow Tea with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Rebola 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

Tea 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 tea grow well in Rebola?

Rebola rates as favourable for tea.

When should I plant tea in Rebola?

Typically 1 Feb 2027 to 14 Sep 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Rebola, 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 Rebola

Keep going

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