Cumin · Marrakesh, Marrakesh-Safi, Morocco
When to plant cumin in Marrakesh
Main outdoor window
11 Feb - 4 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
28 January
In Marrakesh, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 May - 21 Jun
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Marrakesh
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
17 Dec - 7 Jan
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
11 Feb - 4 Mar
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
11 Feb - 4 Mar
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
22 May - 21 Jun
Cumin through the year
Against the frost risk in Marrakesh
Why these dates
No frost tolerance. Killed at 0C.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Cumin are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Marrakesh.
The median frost-free season here is 325 days, against 100 to 130 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing cumin in Marrakesh
When should I plant cumin in Marrakesh?
Aim for 11 Feb - 4 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 11 Mar - 1 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will cumin be ready to harvest in Marrakesh?
Expect to start picking around 22 May - 21 Jun, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will cumin tolerate?
No frost tolerance. Killed at 0C.