Moringa · Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
When to plant moringa in Guangzhou
Main outdoor window
24 Jan - 21 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 January
In Guangzhou, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Apr - 30 Nov
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 Guangzhou
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.
Plant the tree
24 Jan - 21 Feb
After the last frost, once the soil has warmed. This crop is never fully dormant, so it cannot be planted bare-root in winter.
Harvest
1 Apr - 30 Nov
Moringa through the year
Against the frost risk in Guangzhou
Why these dates
Plant at the start of the warm season once nights are reliably above 18C. Cut the leader at a metre to force branching, then harvest leaves continuously through the warm months.
Top growth is killed at about -1C, though an established root sometimes resprouts after a light frost. Below zone 9 it will not survive a winter outdoors.
Moringa are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. Nor is there a dormant season to plant into: this crop keeps its leaves and keeps growing through the winter, which is exactly why cold damages it. The window on this page therefore waits until the last frost in Guangzhou has passed and the soil has begun to warm, giving the roots the longest possible run before the cold returns.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Guangzhou is zone 10a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Guangzhou
Other vegetables to time
Growing moringa in Guangzhou
When should I plant moringa in Guangzhou?
Aim for 24 Jan - 21 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 14 Feb - 14 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will moringa be ready to harvest in Guangzhou?
Expect to start picking around 1 Apr - 30 Nov, based on 200 to 300 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will moringa tolerate?
Top growth is killed at about -1C, though an established root sometimes resprouts after a light frost. Below zone 9 it will not survive a winter outdoors.