How to Grow Marjoram
Marjoram At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Herb
Sun Exposure
Full Sun, Partial Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -7°C
Plant Family
Lamiaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Perennial
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Marjoram is frost tender, so sow it outdoors about 1 week after your last frost, once the soil is warm. The seed is tiny and needs light, so press it onto the soil and barely cover it, no deeper than 0.5 cm, then keep it damp. It sprouts in 10 to 14 days: thin the seedlings to about 20 cm apart.
Sweet marjoram is a milder, sweeter cousin of oregano. It cannot survive our winters outdoors, so grow it fresh each year, or keep a potted plant on a sunny windowsill until spring.
When To Start
First chance to plant
7 Days After Last Frost
Last chance to plant
30 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Marjoram?
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Your Marjoram Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Marjoram Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow marjoram outdoors now, pressed onto warm soil
1 week after your last frost· every year
Optional: start marjoram indoors on the surface of small cells
7 weeks before your last frost· every year· optional
Plant marjoram seedlings out in a warm, sunny spot
1 week after your last frost· every year· optional
Pick marjoram just before it flowers for the best flavour
50 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Did you water your marjoram seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
Your marjoram is coming along! Give it full sun and let the soil dry a little between waterings.
About 42 days after you plant it
Looking good! Pick leaves before the plant flowers, that is when they taste best.
About 71 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your marjoram.
About 85 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Marjoram's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 10–14 days
Growing Tips
- 1Give marjoram your sunniest spot, at least 6 hours of sun a day.
- 2It likes light, well-drained soil with a little compost, and grows well in pots.
- 3Let the top 2 to 3 cm of soil dry out before watering, because soggy roots rot.
- 4Go easy on feeding: a little compost tea once a month is plenty and keeps the flavour strong.
- 5Pinch off the stem tips when plants are about 10 cm tall so they grow bushy.
- 6Spray aphids and spider mites off the undersides of the leaves with water, and space plants so air flows between them.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~85
Days to Maturity
50 cm
Mature Height
45 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
45 days
When to Pick
Harvest fresh leaves before flowering
How to Harvest
- 1Start picking once plants are about 10 to 15 cm tall.
- 2The flavour is strongest just before the small flower buds open.
- 3Cut stems back by about a third with scissors, just above a pair of leaves, and new shoots grow from there.
- 4Use the leaves fresh, or hang small bunches upside down in a dark, airy spot to dry, then keep the leaves in a sealed jar.
- 5Before the first fall frost, cut the whole plant, or pot one up for the windowsill.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Marjoram flowers in its first summer and is pollinated by insects, so it can cross with oregano flowering nearby, and hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true. Let a few plants flower and wait until the little flower heads turn brown and dry. In a short summer the seed may not ripen before frost, so cut the stems as frost comes and finish drying them indoors. Rub the dry heads over a bowl and blow gently to remove the bits of husk from the tiny seeds. Store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry place, where they keep about 2 to 3 years.
Seed Production
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