Planting guide

When to plant wombok

Tall, crisp Chinese cabbage for kimchi, stir-fries and slaw; quick for a cabbage. In Melbourne it goes in Dec–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 5–12 wks
Spacing: 35 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Plenty
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means wombok 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 wombok

Sow in late summer or autumn; it bolts in long days.
Thin to 35 cm apart.
Keep water steady and feed fortnightly.
Net against cabbage white caterpillars; cut when firm.

Wombok varieties

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

Michihili Classicheirloom · 9–12 wksTall barrel-shaped heads for kimchi
Mini Wombok Classicpot-friendly · fast · 7–9 wksSmall heads for small gardens
Kyoto Classicfast · 8–10 wksTender Japanese napa cabbage
Hallasan Red Adventurouscolourful · 9–11 wksRed-hearted Chinese cabbage
Tokyo Bekana Adventurousmild · fast · 5–7 wksLoose-leaf Chinese cabbage

Where to buy seeds

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

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

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Carrot

Wombok by month

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

More to plant

Cabbage · Broccoli · Cauliflower · Brussels Sprouts · Kohlrabi · Broccolini

Not sure wombok 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