In October 2024 the UAE launched Plant the Emirates, a national programme that encourages residents to grow food at home. The ministry's own shortlist for home gardens includes lemon, Mango, Guava, Fig, Okra, Lettuce, Basil, Mint and Coriander, all of which have a page here, plus radish, rocket, beans, green onion, parsley and thyme.
Dubai's gardening year is back to front compared with Europe's. The cool months, roughly October to March, are for growing. June to September is for survival. Plan a kitchen garden around that rhythm and it works.
Sep–Feb
Sowing window for most crops
1.2 m
Widest bed you can reach across
30–45 cm
Soil depth, from salad to tomatoes
Before 8 am
When to water, per DEWA
Month by month
Your kitchen-garden calendar.
Every bar is built from the plant's own page. Blue is when to sow or plant, gold is when you pick. This month is highlighted. Tap a row for the full plant guide.
Timings are for Dubai. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment publishes its own planting calendar, and ours follows the same shape: nursery sowing from August to November, planting out from September, harvest through spring. Okra, sown in spring, is the big exception.
Build it in September and it is ready for the first October sowing. Seven decisions, in the order you make them.
A bed in cross-section
1
Step 1: Site it for sun and shelter
Pick a spot with full sun through winter, out of the wind, near a tap and somewhere you walk past every day. Run long beds north to south so tall crops do not shade short ones.
N–Slong side
N–Slong side
2
Step 2: Size it to your reach
Make it 1.2 m wide, so you can reach the middle from both sides without stepping in and compacting the soil. Any length works; 2.4 m suits standard timber. Thirty centimetres of soil is enough for salad and herbs. Go to 45 cm for the rest.
1.2 mwide
1.2 mwide
3
Step 3: Choose the walls
Timber, either hardwood or pressure-treated softwood, is the easy choice and lasts for years. Blockwork or engineering brick is permanent. Steel, corten included, heats up in full summer sun and warms the soil at its edges, so line the inside face or plan to shade it. Avoid creosoted sleepers.
Timbereasiest start
Timbereasiest start
4
Step 4: Fill with sweet soil and compost
Dubai's native ground is sand, which holds little water and few nutrients. Fill the bed with screened, low-salinity sweet soil and blend in compost or well-rotted manure from the soil improvement range. As a starting mix, aim for about a quarter compost by volume. Water it in and let it settle before you plant.
¼compost
¼compost
5
Step 5: Lay a drip line and a timer
Run a drip line across the bed and put it on a timer set to finish before 8 am. Drip puts the water at the roots and wastes little; a smart controller trims the run times as the season changes. Use mains water: treated sewage effluent (TSE) is not allowed on vegetables and fruit that people eat.
8 amwater by
8 amwater by
6
Step 6: Plan the shade now
Fix a frame over the bed while you build, even though you will not need it until April. Shade cloth of 30 to 50 percent suits most vegetables. Put it on in April, when the average high reaches about 34°C, and leave it up until the heat breaks.
30–50%shade cloth
30–50%shade cloth
7
Step 7: Plant, mulch and keep sowing
Plant seedlings from October, or sow direct. Mulch with organic matter to hold moisture and keep the soil cool; skip black plastic. Sow lettuce and coriander a short row at a time, every two weeks, so the harvest never arrives all at once. Move tomato, aubergine and chilli, which are all nightshades, to a different bed each year.
2 weeksbetween sowings
2 weeksbetween sowings
What to grow
Plants that earn their place.
Every plant is rated for Dubai heat, salt and drought, with its own sowing and harvest months.
Vegetables
Sow from September. Most finish by May. Okra carries on through the summer.
From June to September the average high sits close to 40°C or above and nights stay at 28°C or more. Most vegetables stop. You have two honest choices, and resting the bed is the one most gardeners should make.
Average daytime high, °C
24°JJan
26°FFeb
29°MMar
34°AApr
38°MMay
40°JJun
42°JJul
42°AAug
40°SSep
36°OOct
31°NNov
27°DDec
Jun–SepRest it or ride it out
Rest the bed
Best for most gardens. A rested, solarised bed is the best start for October.
Clear the finished crops in May or June and compost them.
Solarise: wet the soil, cover it with clear 1 mil polythene and leave it for 4 to 6 weeks in the hottest weather. It cuts weed seed and some soil diseases. Weigh the edges down against wind and take the plastic off before week seven.
If you are not solarising, mulch any bare soil to keep it cooler.
In September, top up the bed with compost so it is ready for the first sowing.
Keep a few going
For the plants that like it hot.
Okra is the real summer crop. Sown from spring, it fruits through the heat if you water deeply and mulch.
Curry leaf and lemongrass keep growing. Give curry leaf light shade in the worst of the heat.
Some hot chillies survive, but flowers drop and fruiting stalls from June to September.
Fit 30 to 50 percent shade cloth, mulch the soil and move pots to afternoon shade.
The early-morning rule
Water in the early morning, when there is less evaporation and the plants can use the water all day. DEWA's cut-off is 8 am; finish earlier where you can. Water deeply and less often, then let the surface dry before you water again.
Common mistakes
Six ways a Dubai kitchen garden goes wrong.
Planting out too early
September can feel like autumn, but the average high is still 39.5°C. Seedlings put out in it scorch and stall.
InsteadStart seed in shaded trays in September and plant out from October, when the average high drops below 36°C.
Using the sand as it comes
Native ground holds little water and few nutrients, so plants thirst and starve at the same time.
InsteadFill beds with sweet soil and compost, and top up with compost every season.
Watering at the wrong time
Afternoon water evaporates before the roots can use it, and a splash every day keeps roots shallow.
InsteadWater before 8 am, deeply and less often, through a drip line on a timer.
Irrigating food with TSE
Treated sewage effluent is widely used for landscape irrigation, but UAE rules prohibit treated wastewater on vegetables and fruit that people eat.
InsteadAsk which supply feeds your garden lines, and give edible beds mains water.
Growing tomatoes in the same bed every year
Soil pests and diseases attack the same plant family over and over. Tomato, aubergine and chilli all belong to one.
InsteadRotate families between beds, or rest and solarise the bed over summer.
Leaving the shade until it is too late
By May the average high is 38°C. Lettuce bolts, coriander runs to seed and fruit scalds.
InsteadFit 30 to 50 percent shade cloth in March or April, before the heat arrives.
Questions
Growing food in Dubai, answered.
When can I start a vegetable garden in Dubai?
Prepare the bed in September, start seedlings in shaded trays, and sow or plant out from October, when the average daytime high drops below 36°C. Lettuce and coriander can be sown until February. Tomatoes are best started by December, and the main crops of aubergine and chilli by October. Okra is the exception: it is sown in spring.
Can I grow vegetables in summer in Dubai?
A few, yes; most, no. From June to September the average high sits close to 40°C or above and nights stay at 28°C or more, so tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers stop. Okra, curry leaf and lemongrass keep going, and some hot chillies survive, though flowers drop. Shade cloth, mulch and early-morning watering help. Most gardeners rest the bed and solarise it instead.
What soil should I use for a raised bed in the UAE?
Not the ground's sand on its own, which holds little water and few nutrients. Fill the bed with screened, low-salinity sweet soil and blend in compost or well-rotted manure, roughly a quarter by volume to start with. Ask your supplier for the soil's salinity (EC) reading, and top up with compost each season.
How much water does a vegetable bed need?
There is no single number: it depends on the crop, the month and the soil. As a planning figure, our designer assumes about 2 litres per square metre per day in winter and 4 in summer for drip-fed beds. Push a finger into the soil and water when the top few centimetres are dry. Water in the early morning, deeply and less often, from a drip line on a timer, and use mains water rather than treated effluent.
Which vegetables are easiest for a first-time grower?
Start with herbs and lettuce, which can be picked within two months of sowing in cool weather. Cherry tomatoes are the classic first crop and give picking from January. Okra, mint and rosemary have the highest ease-of-care rating among our vegetables and herbs, 4 out of 5.
Do I need a raised bed, or can I plant in the ground?
In Dubai a raised bed is the easier route: you control the soil from day one, drainage is good and nobody walks on the planting area. Planting in the ground works too, but you have to dig out the sand and blend sweet soil and compost in deep enough for the roots.
