Last edited on 3 Feb 2024. View history

Cretan Oregano

Origanum onites
Also known as Turkish oregano (en) pot marjoram (en) rίgani (en)

A variety of oregano

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.

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Cretan oregano facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less

Growing Cretan oregano

  1. Sow seeds in trays 8 weeks before planting out
  2. Water until established at planting out every week
  3. Pick sprigs at first harvest every 2 weeks
  4. Trim after flowering 8 weeks after first harvest
  5. Divide the clumps 24 months after planting out

Plant Cretan oregano with

pumpkin pumpkin sweet potato sweet potato zucchini zucchini

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Origanum onites L.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Asteridae
Lamiales
Labiatae
Optimal temperature 15 - 25 °C
Absolute temperature 6 - 32 °C
Optimal rainfall 800 - 1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 600 - 1200 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 7.0 - 7.5
Absolute soil pH 6.5 - 8.0
Crop cycle 90 - 120 days
Max altitude 1500 m
Life form herb
Life span perennial
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium, light
Optimal soil fertility moderate
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)
Optimal light very bright

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

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