Subtropical planting calendar

What to sow each month

Each card lists the crops to sow or plant in that month in the subtropical zone; the current month is marked. Something can go in every month of the year.

The full chart

Every crop in the calendar, month by month. Green cells are the months to sow seed or plant seedlings in the subtropical zone; the column on the right says the same in words.

sow or plantnot recommendedthis month

Wet summers, mild winters

Brisbane averages 140–176 mm of rain a month from January to March, but only 29–34 mm a month from July to September. Summer days average about 30 °C and are humid; winter days are a mild 22 °C. On the coast frost is almost unknown: the Brisbane, Gold Coast Seaway and Mackay stations average no nights at 2 °C or below.

That makes the subtropics two gardens in one. From autumn to early spring the zone suits the vegetables southern gardeners grow in winter, and in the warm, drier months of spring most summer crops too. In high summer, heavy rain, humidity and insects are hard on everything except tropical crops. Green Harvest's advice is to grow temperate vegies from autumn to early spring and switch to tropical crops by November.

Frost: rare on the coast, common in the valleys

The coast may be frost-free, but inland valleys are not. Amberley, near Ipswich, averages 18 nights a year at 2 °C or below, from May to August, and Lismore airport about 9, mostly from June to August. Cold air drains downhill on clear, still nights and pools in low ground, which is why valley floors frost first.

If you pick an inland town in the calendar, frost-tender crops are flagged in months that average a frosty night or more there. On the coast you can ignore frost and plan around heat and rain instead.

The subtropical year

• Autumn (March–May): the main planting season, with about 30 crops a month in the calendar. Sow or plant peas, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, onions, garlic and leeks, and strawberry runners from March to June.
• Winter (June–August): still busy. Keep sowing leafy greens and brassicas, plant asparagus and rhubarb crowns from June, and start the warm-season crops in August. A dry, sunny winter is the best tomato season here.
• Spring (September–November): the warm-season crops: capsicum, chilli, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, melons, sweet corn, okra and beans, which stop after November. Sweet potato goes in from August.
• Summer (December–February): the hardest season, with heavy rain, humidity and insects. The calendar still lists the warm-season crops, but heat-lovers such as sweet potato, okra, pumpkins, melons and basil cope best.

Towns in this zone

The subtropical towns in the calendar, with the Bureau of Meteorology station behind each frost figure. Coffs Harbour is the southern edge of the zone; Port Macquarie, further south, is usually counted as temperate.

Questions