Do you know if Moringa will grow in a humid region?
Where do you recommend getting climate information for Honduras?
Where can we get Moringa seeds in Honduras?
I am a missionary in the mountain area called Reserva Yerba Buena of Francisco Morazan Honduras. I want to introduce moringa to the villages here. I learned of a program growing Moringa at the Zamorano University in Honduras. I am reaching out to the school but no answer yet.
I got information about the local climate from Worldweatheronline.com I am not 100% sure I have the correct climate information. According to Worldweatheronline.com this region gets 10-30 inches rain a month from April to November. Temperatures range from 54-84 F.
I read the ECHO paper introducing new seeds overseas. That article is very good and now I have many more questions.
I specialize in moringa and coffee production in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and some other areas in Latin America and the Caribbean. I assist nonprofits and socially responsible businesses produce moringa on a large enough scale to process and produce marketable products that create sustainable revenue streams to fund philanthropic work or business expansion. Moringa grows best in soils that are sandier rather than clay heavy. It also does not like a lot of rain and it prefers hot days that peak in the 85-95 temperature range. I’m not sure if you are in the mountains of Honduras or not, but I tried growing moringa in the mountains of the DR and had some trouble getting the plants to establish themselves. Moringa could grow up in a cooler and rainier mountain area, but it may not flourish and may not be ideal for commercial production.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments. You can respond to this or email me at andrew@blueearthmoringa.com. I’m happy to help in any way that I can.
Andrew thank you for writing. That is very good information. I am interested to know more about what happened when you grew moringa in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. What was the altitude and temperature in the area?
I reached out to two universities in Honduras and am working to gather more information about the climate in the area.
hi there, moringa grows fine most everywhere in Cuba - we have a tree! on the roof. It is fast growing and comes back rapidly when cut back. Good forage, but also we send it to the hospital for really sick friends with our lamb caldo.
Seeds are fairly easy to get here. Try the Cuban Embassy.
I am from Uganda, a fairy humid tropical country (especially in the central, west, south and eastern). Moringa grows perfectly well in the rainy and dry season. I am sure someone would be willing to give you free seeds in your country as they are really cheap and produced in vast numbers. Alternatively, you could request seeds through ECHO and they would ship them to you.
We have grown Moringa in Guatemala. It does not do well above 4000 feet. No success at all at 6000 ft. You can check your altitude with Google Earth if all else fails. We have had a problem with leaf cutter ants. I would suggest they be started in the small black plastic bags so common in Latin America, then transplanted when they are at 1 1/2 to 2 feet. Plant enough to outrun the ants. There are other suggestions but I am not sure of the effectiveness.
Thank you @Kate_Daley. I noticed this week that my moringa tree’s roots survived this years florida freeze of 28 F ! It is growing back from the roots at the soil level
Thank you @Joel_Tumwebaze that is really good information there is hope for us!
@David_Crites thank you so much! I got the altitudes from Google Earth. I am working on getting the temperatures in the area. I am getting help from xeologosdelmundu.org and UNACIFOR (escuela nacional de ciencias forestales) in Siguatepeque Honduras I pray we can figure this out.
Here’s the altitudes:
Lepaterique, Honduras
14° 3’52.44"N 87°28’9.98"W
elev 4800 ft
La estancia
14° 0’28.61"N 87°33’41.17"W
elev 4050 ft
Turturupe
Longitude 13°59’14.21"N
Latitude 87°33’56.25"W
elev 3800 ft
Did you have any luck at 4800 ft of elevation? I work at a coffee finca in Antigua guatemala and the climate and elevation are very similar and I’m looking to grow moringa.
Some families were able to grow the plants to 15± inches at altitudes around 4000-4700 feet
The plants died when the Heavy Rain started one family in the village is going to experiment growing this year after the raining season. They will plant in a location where the water runs off doesn’t stand
Let me know how it goes for you and if you have any more questions
Richard, we are in the Department of Santa Barbara…so a few hours from you. I see Moringa growing in many areas of Honduras. We can’t grow them on our place because the San Popos eat them and we can’t seem to get rid of the sampopos. In the past, I’ve gotten those seed from two different places in Siguatepeque.
Hey AFHGlen. Are you still in Santa Bárbara? We live in Siguatepeque and I have had the same issue with leaf cutter ants (sampopos). A friend in Guatemala recommended I put moldy citrus at the opening of the leaf cutters home. I’m going to try that. I am growing a few moringa trees at 3900 feet here but they have been slow going because of the ants. Where in Siguatepeque did you buy your seeds?
Yes Kevin, I’m still in Santa Barbara. I was in Siguat last week. I normally go there once every couple of months.
A variety of places around Siguat have the seeds. The most reliable is Semillias Tropicalis which is maybe two blocks from the market that wholesales a lot of vegetables. I think it’s San Juan. It’s not the one that’s downtown in front of the plaza.
The forestry university there on the corner near the main road also has a seed bank with a wide variety of seeds.
If you’re not sure of those two sources let me know and I can find a phone number for you. They both use WhatsApp.
When spending the night in Siguat, I normally have coffee at 7 in the morning at Del Corral if you’d like to meet there.
Hi! I work in San Antonio Aguas Calientes, just outside of Antigua and I have had good success with growing a few moringa trees from seeds. They can take a while to get started, and sometimes the leaf-cutter ants do some damage on them, but I had two 10-15 feet high trees that I grew from seeds that did really well, until my garden flooded. They didn’t survive sitting in water for a month or two. We were not harvesting them heavily though.
I’m at 5200 feet altitude just outside of Antigua, Guatemala and successfully grew a few moringa trees. They didn’t like when the garden flooded, but before that they were 10-15 feet tall, although we were not harvesting them heavily. And the ants did seem to like them some years, but the trees bounced back even after the ants attacked them. I started them in pots and transplanted them when they were about 2 feet tall.