Last updated on September 23rd, 2022 at 03:53 pm
Gardening is quite a demanding task. Without adequate patience, you can get frustrated with your plants, especially in their early stages.
One particular stage in most plants that can keep you on your toes is germination or sprouting. Furthermore, the growth period after germination in some plants can be pretty slow.
So, it’s pretty normal to be anxious about whether the plant is growing well or not. And one plant that raises a lot of questions concerning growth is oregano.
So, how long does oregano take to grow? It typically takes between eight days to two weeks for oregano seedlings to germinate. Furthermore, it can take up to three months for the plant to mature enough for harvesting.
How Fast does Oregano Grow?
Oregano is a perennial plant. That is, it’s a plant that doesn’t die off after the first year of its production.
Therefore, it takes a relatively long amount of time to develop compared to other annual crops.
So, oregano grows relatively slowly. While most annual plants take about 3 to 12 days to sprout, oregano takes even longer. Most oregano species typically germinate within 8 to 14 days after planting.
While you may think that this rate is relatively slow, it isn’t. Some plants that produce fruits even take up to three or more weeks to germinate.
So, the proper thing is for you to be patient and ensure that your plant receives all the care you can give.
Because if you don’t take care of your oregano plant properly, it will be pretty hard for it to proliferate.
Does Oregano Grow Easily?
In good conditions, oregano grows just as quickly as any other plant. It isn’t an overly delicate plant that requires utmost care and control.
Nonetheless, for your oregano to grow, certain factors must be available. So, the following are some of the factors that influence the growth of oregano in your garden.
1. Soil quality:
The soil you plant your oregano in determines how well it will grow. Oregano typically prefers well-aerated soil. Soils with good aeration provide enough oxygen for the plant’s roots to breathe.
It would be best to get soil with good microbial action to ensure enough room for air circulation within.
Also, soil that’s porous enough for water to drain quickly is one I highly recommend for your oregano plant.
This way, you’ll be sure the roots of your plant don’t get drowned in water. So, based on my experience, I’d say the best soil type for your oregano is a well-drained loamy soil with a pH ranging from 7 to 8.5.
2. Adequate Sunlight:
I cannot overemphasize the importance of your oregano getting proper access to sunlight. From germination to the termination of an oregano plant’s life cycle, sunlight is critical.
Sunlight is this important because it helps in an essential process in all plants, including oregano — photosynthesis. Photosynthesis takes place when your oregano utilizes sunlight to convert sugar into helpful energy for its daily operations.
In the absence of a proper amount of sun, there’s no doubt that your plant will grow slowly. Furthermore, if it reaches a point where your oregano can’t get up to six hours of sunlight, its absence will severely stunt its growth.
So, it would be best to plant your oregano to get eight hours of quality sunshine every day.
3. Proper Watering:
Water plays a vital role in every plant. Oregano plants use water to transport resources around their bodies. Although oregano typically prefers well-drained soil, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need water.
Oregano usually has long roots that help it source water from deep parts of the soil. So if the ground is moist enough, there’s no need to water it.
Nonetheless, if you live in a dry area, it’d be best to water your plant as often as you can.
4. Regular Harvesting:
It would be best to harvest your oregano leaves as soon as it’s mature. Plucking off mature leaves from your oregano plant enables it to produce more.
In addition, doing this will make the plant spend less energy on making the leaves grow more prominent than more leaves.
How Long Does Oregano Take to Grow from Seed?
Perennial plants take a longer time to germinate. This is because the roots, stems, and leaves of the plant take time to develop.
The development of the parts of the perennial plant makes it stable and gives it the ability to survive for years and reproduce even after the first production.
The taproot system is common amongst perennial crops.
Oregano is perennial. The long-lasting nature of Oregano makes it such a plant that it takes a long time to germinate. As a slow-growing plant, Oregano takes a longer time to germinate.
Oregano takes an average time of 45 days to grow from seed. However, the case may be that growing Oregano successfully from seed level depends on factors such as weather condition, nature of the soil, nutrient level of soil, and water supply.
What Can Impair My Oregano’s Growth?
1. Inadequate sunlight:
As I have mentioned, your oregano needs at least six hours of quality daylight. If you grow your oregano indoors without exposing it to light for a substantial period, it will not grow well.
So, inadequate sunlight poses a significant threat to your oregano’s growth.
2. Improper soil:
Oregano needs quality, well-drained soil with a lot of nutrients. So, planting your oregano in one that doesn’t have any of these characteristics could make it grow improperly or even die.
For example, if you plant your oregano in sticky clay, it may die quickly because of the poor aeration and drainage.
3. Extreme drought or frost:
Oregano is typically drought resistant. Nevertheless, there are some extended periods of drought where the soil becomes rock hard.
If you don’t water your plant in this period, you may lose it. This death of your plant would be caused by dehydration which happens when there isn’t enough water for your plant.
Also, the winter poses a severe threat to your oregano. If your oregano isn’t mature when the winter comes, it may freeze to death.
When the icy shower of snow is too heavy, your oregano’s leaves may get frozen. This deep freeze ultimately leads to death.
How Do You Know Oregano is Ready?
The Oregano is ready for harvest just before it starts flowering. So if you have oregano, it would be best to harvest it just before it begins to flower.
It’s pretty essential to do this because it’s during this time that oregano leaves have an intense flavor.
Because most plants like oregano tend to focus their resources on flowering, it would be best to pluck their leaves before losing their flavor.
Reproduction is serious business in plants, including Oregano. And to reproduce, oregano has to produce seeds.
So, because their seeds come from flowers, your plant will allocate a large portion of resources to making flowers. And this will mean that your plant may need to take some nutrients from mature leaves to form them.
These nutrients in the leaves are what constitute the strong flavor of oregano, so when they’re gone, you’ll have issues with.