Last edited on 2 Nov 2026. View history

Oregano

Origanum vulgare WD
Also known as wild marjoram (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
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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 packets

Grown for

leaf harvested 17 times

Growing 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

How members grow oregano

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Harvested for

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Varieties of oregano

Image of Amanum oregano

Amanum oregano

Origanum amanum
Image of Cretan oregano

Cretan oregano

Origanum onites
Image of marjoram

marjoram

Origanum majorana
Image of round-leafed oregano

round-leafed oregano

Origanum rotundifolium
Image of za'atar

za'atar

Origanum syriacum

Plant oregano with

pumpkin pumpkin sweet potato sweet potato zucchini zucchini

Photos

Oregano crops

Oregano plantings

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IMG_20161015_165721
by shiny
DSC_6693
DSC_6693
by shiny
IMG_20191027_163709
IMG_20191027_163709
by shiny
happy oregano
happy oregano
by shiny

Oregano harvests

IMG_20191027_114931
IMG_20191027_114931
by shiny
IMG_20190401_180114
IMG_20190401_180114
by shiny
IMG_20171118_185220
IMG_20171118_185220
by shiny
IMG_20171118_185205
IMG_20171118_185205
by shiny
More photos

Video

Where oregano grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about oregano

A photo related to this post

Seedlings, bed prep, pink blueberries

by maco,

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 …

black beauty eggplant black beauty eggplants butternut squash butternut squash basils oregano lowbush blueberry lowbush blueberries rabbiteye blueberry rabbiteye blueberries
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A photo related to this post

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:

![garden plan](http://mackenzie.morgan.name/tmp/garden_plan.p…

arugula arugula basils beet beets cabbage cabbages cauliflower cauliflowers cucumbers eggplant eggplants garlic kale kale lettuce lettuces onions oregano parsley Hungarian wax pepper Hungarian wax peppers bell pepper bell peppers zucchini zucchini yellow summer squash yellow summer squash butternut squash butternut squash sweet potato sweet potatoes tomatoes super sweet 100 tomato super sweet 100 tomatoes chamomiles
Read more
A photo related to this post

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 house…

nectarine nectarines apple mint apple mint thyme thyme oregano
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A photo related to this post

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 front fence:

![herbs …

rosemary rosemary oregano thyme thyme
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Image of oregano

Who's planted oregano

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Oregano harvests

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Origanum vulgare L.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Asteridae
Lamiales
Labiatae
Optimal temperature 17 - 28 °C
Absolute temperature 4 - 32 °C
Killing temperature growth: 0 °C, rest: -5 °C
Optimal rainfall 700 - 1300 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 400 - 2700 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 5.5 - 7.0
Absolute soil pH 4.5 - 8.7
Crop cycle 180 - 300 days
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)
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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