Cardamom

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 1,540 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 710 mm it can use in a normal year, and 630 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–30 °C on average, and survives 10–35 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Jun 27 °C / 20 °C
• Jul 25 °C / 20 °C
• Aug 25 °C / 20 °C
• Sep 26 °C / 20 °C
• Oct 28 °C / 20 °C
• Nov 28 °C / 18 °C
• Dec 28 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 29 °C / 16 °C
• Feb 30 °C / 17 °C
• Mar 32 °C / 19 °C
• Apr 32 °C / 21 °C
• May 31 °C / 21 °C
• Jun 27 °C / 20 °C

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Soil

Soil for Cardamom: 7 out of 10 (okay).

• Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
• Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
• Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 5.5–6.0.

Money

Yield: about 0.8 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.

Mandi price through the year (December 2025–May 2026, July–October 2026): about ₹2,56,375 a quintal across India's mandis.

Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.

Prices are usually best in October.

Typical costs are about ₹1.7 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.