Divisi
When to plant Tea in Butula
Busia, Kenya
Known here as chai
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.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Favourable | |
| When to plant (establish) | 2 Mar 2027 – 21 May 2027 opens in 22 weeks | 1 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2026 |
| Expected harvest | about 1.7 t/ha | same |
| Work it takes | 213–430 days per hectare, by hand | |
| Rain meets its needs | 98% | |
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 22 Mar 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
No seasonal forecast reaches Butula yet, so these dates follow the rains it usually gets rather than this year's.
Planting after 21 May 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Butula
| Rain and temperature | 60% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 88% |
For tea in Butula, rain and temperature is the tightest of the three at 60%. This one is fixed. It is why the planting window above is where it is — hitting those dates is the whole of your control here.
The 2025 season in Butula
| When the rains are expected | January 2025 to January 2025 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,593 mm |
| This season's rain | Rain close to usual — plan around about 1,593 mm falling roughly when it always does |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +0.8 °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 | 2 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 88% of this area. |
| 88% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 361 growing days · about 1,550 mm · January to January |
|---|---|
| 12% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 359 growing days · about 1,560 mm · January to January |
last updated 30 September 2026
Temperature holds back about 45% of yield here.
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 Butula
| Planting material | About 12,000 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 85 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 13 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 42 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 | 213–430 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
Grow Tea with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Butula 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.
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 Butula?
Butula rates as favourable for tea.
When should I plant tea in Butula?
Typically 2 Mar 2027 to 21 May 2027, typical season.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Butula, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
