Kapok
Kapok is a warm-temperate tree that grows best in the 17–38°C range with 1500–2500 mm of rain, cropping over a 270–330-day season.
How it grows
Kapok grows on a tree — the fruit ripens above the ground, up in the canopy.
Where Earth's climate suits kapok
Climatic suitability only — scored for every 0.5° of the planet from this crop's temperature and rainfall tolerances (FAO EcoCrop) on AgroClim 1991–2025 normals (AgERA5 temperature, CHIRPS/ERA5 rainfall). It shows where the rain-fed climate permits the crop, not where it is grown today; irrigation lets many crops thrive in drier country than the map suggests (California, Egypt, the Indus and Nile).
Who grows it — and where the climate merely allows it
Climate envelope · FAO EcoCrop
Deep bar = optimal range; pale bar = absolute tolerance. Beyond the pale bar the crop fails. Latitude tolerance ±30° · soil pH 5–7.5.
Growing calendar & hazards
An annual cycle of roughly 270–330 days from sowing to harvest, so it is timed to fall within the frost-free, adequately-wet part of the year for the location.
- Cold & frost. A frost-sensitive crop: temperatures near or below freezing damage or kill it, so it is confined to frost-free seasons and warm climates.
- Wet & disease. A thirsty crop that needs abundant rain; in the wettest climates, humidity brings fungal disease pressure.