East African Coast · Between the rains · 7 October 2026
Gardening in Zanzibar City
Hot all year, with a rainy season (Apr–May and Nov) and a long dry one (Feb and Jul–Sep). Planting follows the first good rains; the dry season belongs to watered beds and tree crops.
- Tropical wet and dry climate
- 1,288 mm of rain a year
- Sea coast
Photograph: Jmcdor · CC BY-SA 4.0
Now
25°C · Overcast
Today
31° / 23°
Soil 6 cm
28°C
Rain, average month
98 mm in October
Weather read at 9:28 p.m..
Tropical wet and dry climate · October
Gardening in Zanzibar City runs on the rainy season
Hot all year, with a rainy season (Apr–May and Nov) and a long dry one (Feb and Jul–Sep). Planting follows the first good rains; the dry season belongs to watered beds and tree crops.
The rains are due next month. Prepare and mulch beds now so seed can go in with the first good rain.
The year in Zanzibar City
Tropical wet and dry · Köppen Aw · two rainy seasons, 1,288 mm a year
This month
What to sow and plant in Zanzibar City in October
From seedlingsFruiting vegetablesHarvest year-roundAfrican eggplant (garden egg)
Sow now, in a seedbed or trays. The garden egg of Ghana and Nigeria — small, firm, often bitter fruit picked pale and unripe, with leaves for the pot as well.
Freezing · DryingHarvest and storage →
From stem cuttingsRootsHarvest year-roundCassava
Sow now, where it is to grow. The root that feeds much of tropical Africa — generous in poor soil and drought, and never to be eaten raw.
Fermenting · DryingHarvest and storage →
From seedlingsFruiting vegetablesHarvest year-roundChillies
Sow now, in a seedbed or trays. A handful of plants gives a year of heat — dried on a string, pickled in rings, or fermented into sauce.
Drying · Pickling · FermentingHarvest and storage →
Sow directPeas and beansHarvest year-roundCowpeas
Sow now, where it is to grow. Leaves at four weeks, green pods at eight, dry black-eyed peas at twelve — the Sahel’s pulse, and a crop that feeds the soil.
Drying · Freezing · PressureHarvest and storage →
Sow directPeas and beansHarvest year-roundGroundnuts (peanuts)
Sow now, where it is to grow. Flowers above ground, nuts below — a hot-season legume that wants loose sandy soil and a dry spell to finish.
Drying · Curing · PressureHarvest and storage →
Sow directLeafy greensHarvest year-roundLeaf amaranth
Sow now, where it is to grow. Morogo, efo tete, mchicha, callaloo — the hot-weather spinach of Africa, ready to cut a month after sowing.
Freezing · Drying · PressureHarvest and storage →
Also sow now: okra, watermelons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, aubergines (eggplant, brinjal), basil, cucumbers, sweet corn, sweet peppers and winter squash.
With regular watering: taro (cocoyam, madumbe) — they would grow into the dry months.
Start in trays: african eggplant (garden egg), chillies, aubergines (eggplant, brinjal), basil and sweet peppers, to plant out in a month or two.
Coming in now: african eggplant (garden egg), cassava, chillies, cowpeas, groundnuts (peanuts), leaf amaranth, okra and watermelons.
Dry months: February and July–September. Plan the thirsty crops around them, or around the tap.
The sowing calendar for Zanzibar City
Worked out from ten years of local temperature and rainfall
| Crop | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African eggplant (garden egg)staple | ||||||||||||
| Cassavastaple | ||||||||||||
| Chilliesstaple | ||||||||||||
| Cowpeasstaple | ||||||||||||
| Groundnuts (peanuts)staple | ||||||||||||
| Leaf amaranthstaple | ||||||||||||
| Okrastaple | ||||||||||||
| Watermelonsstaple | ||||||||||||
| Taro (cocoyam, madumbe)staple | ||||||||||||
| Pumpkinsstaple | ||||||||||||
| Sweet potatoesstaple | ||||||||||||
| Aubergines (eggplant, brinjal) | ||||||||||||
| Basil | ||||||||||||
| Cucumbers | ||||||||||||
| Sweet corn | ||||||||||||
| Sweet peppers | ||||||||||||
| Winter squash | ||||||||||||
| Courgettes (zucchini) |
Sow or plant out Possible with watering — it grows into the dry season Start in trays Harvest
Perennials and fruit that do well here: Bananas and plantains, Mangoes, Moringa (drumstick tree), Papaya, Lemons and oranges, Passion fruit, Avocados, Thyme, oregano, sage and rosemary, Strawberries.
A crop is marked for a month when, sown then, it would spend its growing weeks within its own temperature limits and clear of frost. Microclimates move this by weeks: a sheltered, sunny wall is a month ahead of an open, windy plot.
Loading this week's guide: forecast, moon and local records…
Garden fauna · October
Garden insects and soil life active this month
Pollinators, predators, soil organisms and pests active near Zanzibar City, Tanzania in October. Most are beneficial; identify the few pests before treating anything.
PollinatorMar–OctHoney bee
Apis mellifera
Golden-brown, banded, furry thorax, and pollen packed onto the hind legs in visible baskets.
Role in the garden →
BeneficialApr–OctLady beetle
Coccinellidae
The adult everyone knows; the larva is the useful one — a spiky, alligator-shaped grey-and-orange creature that looks like a pest.
Role in the garden →
BeneficialApr–OctGround beetle
Carabidae
Shiny black or bronze, fast-running, with grooved wing covers and long legs.
Role in the garden →Photo: Gavin Slater · CC BY 4.0
Soil lifeMar–Jun, Sep–NovEarthworm
Lumbricus terrestris
Familiar; look for the saddle-like clitellum a third of the way down a mature worm.
Role in the garden →Photo: José Garrido · CC BY 4.0
PestApr–Jun, Sep–OctSlugs
Gastropoda
The silvery slime trail and ragged holes in the middle of leaves, not at the edges.
Role in the garden →Photo: Casey H. Richart · CC BY 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 115 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
Conditions
The day, the ground and the sky over Zanzibar City
Slugs feed through the day as well as at night, and blight spreads in warm, wet air.
- Ground beetlepeak activity — Running the soil surface after dark, taking slugs, cutworms and larvae. One of the best predators a garden has.
- Earthwormpeak activity — At the surface after dark and in wet weather, pulling leaves down into the burrow.
Sky · Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Sun and moon
Day length and the moon, for Zanzibar City.
Sun
12h 12m of daylight
Sunrise
06:05
Solar noon
12:11
Sunset
18:16
A month from now the day will be 0h 09m longer. Day length is sufficient for steady growth.
Moon
Waning Crescent
9% lit · waning · day 27 of 29.5
- Next full
- Oct 26 · 19d
- Hunter's Moon
- Next new
- Oct 10 · 3d
- No moonlight
Lunar planting (traditional): Last quarter to new: a resting phase — weed, prune, harvest, turn compost and prepare beds.
Solunar rating (traditional): good. The tradition holds that fish feed most in the days around new and full moon, and near moonrise and moonset. The evidence is mixed; light and weather have larger effects.
Next solstice or equinox
Summer solstice
Dec 21 · 75 days away
Frost is rare here: most years have none, or one or two nights at most.
Coming phases
- New MoonOct 10
- First QuarterOct 18
- Full Moon · Hunter's MoonOct 26
- Last QuarterNov 1
This week · Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Seasonal conditions
Each reading is taken from this week's forecast and the local climate record, with what it means for the season.
- Inactive
Frost
366 frost-free days
Frost is rare here. Coldest night in the next week: 22.8 °C.
Frost sets the limits of the growing season. Ice forming inside leaf tissue ruptures the cells: one night kills a tomato plant and sweetens a parsnip.
- Favourable
Soil temperature
27.8 °C
Warm enough for beans, maize, squash, cucumber and transplanted tomato and pepper. Root growth is rapid at this temperature.
Germination is triggered by soil temperature, not by date. The reading is taken at 6 cm, the depth of most seed.
- Favourable
Day length
12h 12m
Gaining about under a minute of daylight a day. Lengthening days increase daily growth.
Day length is unaffected by weather. Plants respond to photoperiod when they bolt, form bulbs, flower and go dormant.
- Favourable
Heat units
117 GDD / 7 days
Steady heat. Tomatoes set fruit, maize grows quickly, and insect pests complete generations on schedule.
Growing degree days: the running total of warmth above 10 °C. Crop and insect development tracks this total more closely than the date.
- Favourable
Rain
32.3 mm / 7 days
32.3 mm across 6 days. Sufficient; no watering needed.
Rainfall governs germination, fungal fruiting and slug activity, and sets river levels for the following days.
- Favourable
Pollination
4 of 7 flying days
4 suitable flying days ahead. Open flowers will be visited; provide shallow water and delay any spraying until dusk.
About a third of food crops depend on insect pollination. Bee activity is governed by temperature, wind and rain.
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