Planting guide

When to plant broccoli

Cut the main head, then keep picking side shoots for weeks. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Apr.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 6–14 wks
Spacing: 50 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means broccoli can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant broccoli

Sow seed indoors or buy seedlings.
Plant firm and net against butterflies.
Feed fortnightly with liquid fertiliser.
Cut the head while buds are tight; keep cutting side shoots.

Broccoli varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Calabrese Classicheirloom · 10–14 wksClassic green broccoli with a main head and side shoots
Waltham 29 Classiccold-hardy · heirloom · 11–14 wksOld favourite for autumn and winter
Green Magic Classicheat-tolerant · hybrid · 9–11 wksCompact hybrid that tolerates warmth
De Cicco Classicheirloom · heavy-cropper · 10–13 wksItalian heirloom with many side shoots
Purple Sprouting Adventurouscold-hardy · colourful · 26–34 wksOver-winter crop of purple spears
Romanesco Adventurouscolourful · 13–16 wksChartreuse spiralled spires, nutty and mild
Kailaan Adventurousfast · 6–10 wksChinese broccoli (gai lan) with thick stems
Raab Adventurousfast · 6–10 wksBitter-sweet Italian greens; quick and leafy

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Beet

Broccoli by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Cabbage · Cauliflower · Brussels Sprouts · Kohlrabi · Wombok · Broccolini

Not sure broccoli is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now