Orlaya · Constantine, Constantine, Algeria
When to sow orlayas in Constantine
Main outdoor window
26 Jan - 23 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
23 February
In Constantine, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
26 Apr - 26 May
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Constantine
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
29 Dec - 26 Jan
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
26 Jan - 23 Feb
Four weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
9 Feb - 9 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
In flower
26 Apr - 26 May
Orlayas through the year
Against the frost risk in Constantine
Why these dates
Sow direct four weeks before the last frost into cool soil, or start indoors eight weeks before it. Germination is slow and uneven at the best of times and much better after a fortnight of cold, so autumn sowing suits it. Self-seeds where the drainage is good enough.
Hardy to about -12C. Autumn sowing is the traditional method around the Mediterranean and works anywhere in zone 8 and milder. Humid summer heat brings it to an early end.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Orlayas are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Constantine.
Constantine sits in zone 9b, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
The median frost-free season here is 300 days, against 90 to 120 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Constantine
Other flowers to time
Growing orlayas in Constantine
When should I plant orlayas in Constantine?
Aim for 26 Jan - 23 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 18 Feb - 18 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will orlayas be ready to harvest in Constantine?
Expect to start picking around 26 Apr - 26 May, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will orlayas tolerate?
Hardy to about -12C. Autumn sowing is the traditional method around the Mediterranean and works anywhere in zone 8 and milder. Humid summer heat brings it to an early end.