Choose your country
Vegetables

Saffron crocus

Crocus sativus

Saffron crocus
Photo: KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

An autumn-flowering bulb whose red stigmas are the world's most expensive spice; Kozani saffron is famous.

Light
Full sun (6 h or more)
Height
0.1–0.2 m
Watering
Low: every 7–15 days, drought-tolerant
Soil
loose and well-drained
Edible?
Yes: the stigmas (saffron)
How to plant
Plant the bulbs or corms 12 cm deep, tip up, 10 cm apart.
Care
Pick flowers as they open in the morning and pull out the three stigmas; dry them with gentle heat. Lift and divide every 4 years.

Calendar by climate

Warm coast
Mild Mediterranean
Southern interior
Continental interior
Cold interior and uplands
Atlantic
Canary Islands (subtropical)
SowPlantHarvestPruneFeedTreat

Dates are for growing outdoors, based on the local climate. In a greenhouse or tunnel everything comes earlier.

Feeding and doses

Mild Mediterranean

  • CompostJul3–5 kg / m²

Pest prevention and doses

Mild Mediterranean

Not needed.

How easy to grow by climate

  • Warm coastNeeds regular careToo warm a climate
  • Mild MediterraneanEasy
  • Southern interiorEasy
  • Continental interiorEasy
  • Cold interior and uplandsEasy
  • AtlanticDifficultRain and humidity: fungal disease
  • Canary Islands (subtropical)DifficultNo winter chill

Plants in the same category

Your own calendar, with only your plants

Open My garden

Add Hortario to your home screen

What you get

How to do it

  1. Tap Share . In Safari it's at the bottom (on iOS 26, tap “•••” first); in Chrome, in the address bar.
  2. Scroll and choose “Add to Home Screen” (if it isn't there, tap “View More”).
  3. Tap “Add”. If you see “Open as Web App”, leave it on.
  4. Done: open Hortario from the new icon.

On iPhone the icon app keeps its own data: you may need to pick your area and plants again.