Oregano
pumpkin
Photos
Most of the seeds I started a couple weeks ago have sprouted and gotten going. It looks like I will need to pick up one black beauty eggplant, one butternut squash, and one basil plant. And maybe oregano …
Amanum oregano
Origanum amanum
Last edited by shiny on November 12, 2026. View history
Oregano
Origanum vulgare
WD
Also known as
wild marjoram (EN)
European oregano (EN)
wild majoram (EN)
winter marjoram (EN)
anrar (EN)
origan (EN)
dost (EN)
vild mejram (EN)
wilde marjolein (EN)
regamo (EN)
ouregao (EN)
dushitsa (EN)
A low, creeping 20 cm perennial culinary herb with woody, often purplish stems and hairy-backed leaves. The whole plant has a strong, warm, aromatic scent and flavour that is kept when it is dried. Sow into trays in spring, prick out at 2.5 cm diagonal spacing at the first two leaves, and transplant at 30 cm diagonal spacing when the ground reaches 15 degrees C.
- 50
- plantings
- 18
- harvests
- 5
- seed packets
Oregano facts
Lifespan
Perennial
living more than two years
First harvest expected
8
weeks after planting
Days until maturity
80–90 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
leaf harvested 17 times
Optimal temperature
17–28 °C
Absolute temperature
4–32 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
700–1300 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
400–2700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–7
Absolute soil pH
4.5–8.7
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
180–300 days
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For oregano, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 4°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 3330 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your oregano will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing oregano
- Sow seeds in trays 8 weeks before planting out
- Water until established at planting out every week
- Pick sprigs at first harvest every 2 weeks
- Trim after flowering 8 weeks after first harvest
- Divide the clumps 24 months after planting out
How members grow oregano
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of oregano
Cretan oregano
Origanum onites
marjoram
Origanum majorana
round-leafed oregano
Origanum rotundifolium
za'atar
Origanum syriacum
Plant oregano with
Photos
Oregano crops
Oregano plantings
Oregano harvests
Oregano seeds
Video
Where oregano grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about oregano
Seedlings, bed prep, pink blueberries
by maco,
black beauty eggplants
butternut squash
basils
oregano
lowbush blueberries
rabbiteye blueberries
Read more
Getting ready for spring!
by maco,
I've got seeds either on-hand or ordered for just about everything I'm starting from seed this year. I've been working out what I want to plant, and this is the plan I've come up with for the 72 square feet of my backyard raised beds:
arugula
basils
beets
cabbages
cauliflowers
cucumbers
eggplants
garlic
kale
lettuces
onions
oregano
parsley
Hungarian wax peppers
bell peppers
zucchini
yellow summer squash
butternut squash
sweet potatoes
tomatoes
super sweet 100 tomatoes
chamomiles
Read more
Introduction from Wendy
by Mshathvri,
Hi! I'm Wendy and I live in Livermore, California, USA. I live in the suburbs and have been learning about permaculture for two years now. Right now my project is slowly converting my lawn into a food forest, one module at a time.
I began with a 10x20 starter garden on the north side of my h…
nectarines
apple mint
thyme
oregano
Read more
This was going to contain much more whining about our landlords
by Skud,
… but I'm tired of it, so I won't. I just wish our mutual understanding of the term "quiet enjoyment" involved fewer inspections and more autonomy in the garden.
Anyway. The other day I picked up some herbs from the CERES nursery, and on Monday I planted them along the fron…
rosemary
oregano
thyme
Read more
Who's planted oregano
- piranha marjoram Front Garden · East Coast, Central...
- amy marjoram Containers · Durham, NC
- wrdnrd Canterbury — Deck · UDistrict, Seattle,...
- valgrind Vegetable Garden
- snake 2023 · Moonville, OH
Oregano harvests
-
shiny harvested not specified.
18 days ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 6 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
about 7 years ago
shiny harvested not specified.
Find oregano seeds
- mstremeski will trade nationally.
- krh will trade locally.
- shawnacscott will trade nationally.
- View all oregano seeds 5
View all oregano seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 to 300 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Origanum vulgare L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Lamiales Labiatae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 0 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about oregano
Resources outside Growstuff.
