How to grow Moringa

Moringa oleifera · drumstick tree, horseradish tree, ben oil tree

Moringa (Moringa oleifera) — moringa is a fast-growing tree from the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, grown mainly for its nutritious young leaves, which taste slightly of mustard; its flowers and young pods are edible too. In the tropics it becomes a tree of 8–12 m, but frost kills its soft growth, so in cool climates it is sown each spring and grown in a pot, a greenhouse or outdoors as an annual leaf crop.

Checked against sources: October 3, 2026

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Moringaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	5.5–7
Frost	does not tolerate frost
Soil for sowing	from 20 °C
Germination	10 days
Seedlings ready	45 days
Sowing to harvest	70 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 8 weeks before planting out.

Plant out in open ground about a week after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 70 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 3 days	20…35 °C	—
Growth	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 3 days	20…35 °C	—
Growth	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	20…35 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun; it will not grow in shade. Indoors give it the brightest, sunniest window.

Soil

Any well-drained soil, sandy or loamy, preferably slightly acidic to neutral (pH 5.5–7); it rots in soil that stays waterlogged. A pot of 4–20 litres is enough for a leaf plant.

Care

Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours and sow them about 2.5 cm deep in warm soil; they sprout in 1–2 weeks. Plant out or move seedlings to a bigger pot at 1–2 months, when they are about 30 cm tall, and only after frosts are over. Moringa grows best at 20–35 °C. Water seedlings and pots regularly, but let established plants dry a little between waterings and never leave them in wet soil. Give a balanced fertiliser or well-rotted manure at planting and again after a hard cut, without overdoing nitrogen. Pinch the top at about 1 m or two months after planting so it branches, then keep cutting young shoots and leaves, which encourages new leafy growth. Use the leaves fresh within a day or two or keep them in the fridge. Before frost, cut a pot plant back and bring it indoors. Eat only the leaves, flowers and young pods; the root, sometimes used like horseradish, contains the alkaloid spirachin and is harmful in excess.

Pests and diseases of Moringa

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.