Origanum majorana
Marjoram
Common names: Sweet marjoram, Knotted marjoram
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 20 cm, rows 25 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Jul–Sep
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Water need
- Low
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Description
Majorana is the classic sausage herb with a mild, sweet‑spicy aroma, finer and rounder than its wild relative oregano. In temperate regions it is usually grown as an annual because it does not tolerate frost.
Care instructions
Sow seeds after April in a warm location or directly in the garden from May, as germination requires reliable warmth. Choose a full‑sun spot and water sparingly, as dryness enhances the aroma. Harvest the shoots just before flowering in July and August for peak flavor.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestJul–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 20 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, humus-rich, well-drained, lime-loving
Sweet marjoram wants a loose, well-drained soil. It does not tolerate waterlogging, which quickly leads to root rot. Ideal is a sandy-loamy, moderately humus-rich soil in the neutral to slightly calcareous range; on heavy loam you work in sand. A little lime promotes the aroma but is not a must; sweet marjoram is not lime-averse.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring, when planting or sowing, work in ripe compost shallowly; that is usually enough for the whole season. More is not needed: above all too much nitrogen drives soft leaf growth and weakens the aroma. On very lean soils you can additionally mix in a little horn meal as an organic nitrogen source. No fresh manure immediately before planting.
Overwintering
Sweet marjoram is not hardy in the DACH lowlands and freezes in the bed. The easiest way is to treat it as an annual and sow anew in spring. If you want to keep a plant, pot it up before the first frost, bring it indoors bright, cool and frost-free, water only sparingly and slowly get it used to the outdoors again in spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Division
The most reliable way to propagate sweet marjoram is by sowing. Sow indoors from mid-March in seed trays, without covering the tiny seeds, because sweet marjoram is a light germinator. At a germination temperature of 18 to 20 °C the first seedlings appear after about 15 to 20 days. From mid-May, after the Ice Saints (mid-May), you can plant the young plants in the bed or in a pot. Direct sowing outdoors is also possible from mid-May.
Cuttings work with overwintered plants: in July or August cut shoot tips about 10 cm long that have not yet hardened, remove the lower leaves and insert them into moist seed compost. With a cover in a bright, warm spot, roots form after a few weeks, recognisable by new growth. This way the characteristics of the mother plant are kept.
Division only makes sense with successfully overwintered, perennial marjoram plants (perennial marjoram / winter marjoram): dig the plant up in spring and divide the root ball with a sharp spade into several sections, each with its own shoot and roots. Since true sweet marjoram in DACH gardens is mostly not frost-hardy and is cultivated mainly as an annual, division remains a special case.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example PotatoTomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberry and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
You will notice that the intense scent of basil, thyme, and others confuses the cabbage whitefly and keeps it away from the cabbage family.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: bio-gardening intercropping practice
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Marjoram yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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