Vegetable Planting Calendar Australia

What can you plant now, where you garden? Australia has no single planting calendar, because November is the start of summer cropping in Melbourne and the first of the Wet in Darwin. This calendar is built around five climate zones and ten cities, with the months for 38 crops, so you can see what to sow or plant this month and what is coming next.

What to plant in November, by climate

November is the last month of spring. These crops appear on two separate Australian lists for each zone.

Find your zone: what to plant in your city now

Most Australians search by city, so start here. The averages are for November, from the Bureau of Meteorology.

A zone is a starting point. Melbourne runs cooler than Sydney in the same zone, hills are colder than plains, and sources differ on where southern Victoria belongs: ABC Education describes Melbourne as temperate, while Sustainable Gardening Australia places southern Victoria in cool to cold.

What to plant month by month

Each month has its own page, with what to sow or plant in all five climates.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Gardening by season

* ABC's planting guide says autumn for subtropical tomatoes, while an ABC November list names them now. Sources split, so try both and record the result. Arid-zone tomatoes follow ABC's advice of two crops; Gardenate lists a longer spring window.

Sowing, planting out and harvest

Warm-season crops such as tomato, capsicum and eggplant wait for frost to pass and the soil to warm. ABC Gardening Australia says not to plant tomatoes out until the soil reaches a minimum of 16°C, and that 18 to 20°C is even better. In cold areas, the latest chance of frost usually falls in the first week of November.

Cup Day is the traditional date for tomatoes in Victoria, and in 2026 it falls on Tuesday 3 November. ABC Gardening Australia lists it among the many anecdotal dates and says it all comes down to temperature. Keep moisture steady after planting: irregular watering can cause blossom-end rot.

Harvest follows the day you sowed, so count forward from your own date. As a guide from Deep Green Permaculture: radish 5 to 7 weeks, zucchini 6 to 9, beetroot and dwarf beans 7 to 10, lettuce 8 to 12, peas 9 to 11, and carrots 12 to 18. Times vary with climate and variety.

Fruit fly, heat and the Wet

Fruit fly: Queensland fruit fly is the problem in the east and inland, and Mediterranean fruit fly in the south-west of WA, where it is a declared pest. Tasmania has long been free of both; the latest evidence we found is from 2023, so check with Biosecurity Tasmania. NSW DPI says that if control is not started in spring, populations increase and cause more problems later. Net fruiting crops, pick up all fallen fruit, and never compost infested fruit. ABC Gardening Australia says to bag it and freeze or microwave it to kill the larvae. Check your state rules before moving fruit.

Heat: very hot weather can arrive anywhere this month. Mulch, keeping it clear of stems and trunks, water new plants regularly, and use shadecloth on very hot days in the arid zone.

The Wet: the Territory's wet season runs roughly November to April. Choose full sun and ground that does not waterlog, and raise beds at least 10 to 15 cm. The NT Government says snake beans can grow in the Wet if the soil is well drained.

Turn this calendar into a plan

The Australian Vegetable Garden Planner puts every climate in one printable book: this month's chart, a four-week plan with real dates, a sowing chart for each zone, 22 crop guides and trackers.

See the November 2026 Edition

This page is written for Australian gardeners: months follow the southern-hemisphere seasons, and the Australian Vegetable Garden Planner uses the same five climate zones.

Go deeper: crop guides and planning tools

New to growing? Start with how to grow vegetables in Australia.

Our crop guides are written for all climates, so use them with the months above: Tomatoes, Capsicum and chilli, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Beans, Peas, Carrots, Beetroot, Sweet potato, Silverbeet, Lettuce, Kale. Browse every growing guide, read the global planting calendar for soil-temperature timing, or sketch your beds in the free garden layout planner.

References

SoilCommander is not affiliated with these organisations, and they have not reviewed this page.

How we checked this

On 4 November 2026 we read two Australian state-government planting guides: Green Adelaide (South Australian Government) and the Waste Authority of Western Australia Edible School Garden Guide. They cover Adelaide and Perth only, which is the temperate column. Where both guides agree with the table, we corrected the sowing grid to show the same months: temperate capsicum now includes December, zucchini September to December, dwarf beans March, potato July and silverbeet September. Where both guides leave out months the table gave, we changed the temperate table and grid: spinach is now March to August (the guides say February to July and March to August), beetroot July to April (neither lists May) and broad beans April to August (both start in April). We changed nothing for the subtropical, tropical, arid or cool columns, because no state-government month table was reached for those climates, and we left every other temperate difference unchanged because only one guide covered it. Melbourne answers rest on the table and ABC Gardening Australia (not counted as a trusted source here).

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions

Last updated 31 October 2026