October Vegetable and Herb Gardening Calendar for Temperate Climate Australia

October is the mid-spring period, where flowers bloom in abundance, and the warmer weather with rain bringing ideal conditions for lush plant growth.

In the southern states, despite the warm, balmy weather, cold nights and even frosts can still be expected this month, so it’s important to protect tender plants and seedlings.

In Melbourne, there are many windy days, with a few days of strong gusts, while in country Victoria there can be high winds during thunderstorms.

This month brings lots of long sunny days, though Melbourne will rain on half the days of the month, while Adelaide and Perth average 11-12 days of rain.

Things to Do This Month:

• Plant evergreen shrubs and trees (including citrus trees).
• Relocate evergreen shrubs, as they’re able to regrow their roots during the mild weather.
• Set up windbreaks (e.g. plastic tree guards) to protect newly planted evergreen trees and shrubs.
• Plant potted deciduous fruit trees and vines, since they are in leaf and have growing roots, they can be planted anytime, but the best time is in spring & autumn when weather is mild.
• Relocate any self-seeded annuals to better locations in the garden.
• Tidy up overgrown plants and tie growing vines back to supports or wires.
• Continue propagating plants by taking cuttings or layering (ground layering and air layering).
• Feed brambleberries (raspberries, blackberries & hybrids) and currants.
• Last chance to remove dead winter growth, and to dig up and divide perennial plants
• Clean out ponds and water gardens, divide waterlilies, plant new aquatic plants.

Vegetables and Herbs to Grow in October (Temperate Climate)

October Seeds to Sow and Seedlings to Plant (Temperate Climate Australia)	Sow/Plant	Harvest (weeks)
Amaranth	dst	7-8
Angelica	dst	18 months
Asparagus	plant crowns	2-3 years
Asparagus Pea	d	8-11
Basil	st	10-12
Beans (Climbing)	dst	9-11
Beans (Dwarf, Bush)	dst	7-10
Beetroot	dst	7-10
Borage	dst	8-10
Broccoli	st	10-16
Burdock	d	17-18
Cabbage	st	8-15
Cape Gooseberry	dst	14-16
Capsicum	st	10-12
Carrot	d	12-18
Cauliflower	st	15-22
Celeriac	st	14-28
Celery	st	17-18
Chilli	st	9-11
Chives	dst	7-11
Collard Greens	dst	8-11
Coriander (Cilantro)	dst	30-45
Cowpeas (Black Eye Peas)	d	11-14
Cucumber	dst	8-10
Dill	dst	8-12
Eggplant	t	12-15
Endive	dst	10-11
Fennel (Bronze)	dst	14-15
Fennel (Florence)	dst	14-20
French Tarragon	t	30-40 days
Ginger	plant root	25
Globe Artichokes	dst	42-57
Horseradish	plant crowns	16-24
Jerusalem Artichokes	plant tubers	15-20
Kale	dst	7-9
Kohlrabi	dst	7-10
Leeks	dst	15-18
Lemon Balm	dst	8-10
Lettuce	dst	8-12
Luffa	dst	11-12
Marrow	st	12-17
Mint	dst	8-12
NZ Spinach (Warrigal Greens)	dst	8-10
Okra	s	11-14
Oregano	st	6-8
Parsley	dst	9-19
Parsnip	d	17-20
Peas	t	9-11
Potato	plant seed potatoes	15-20
Pumpkin	dst	15-20
Radish	d	5-7
Rhubarb	plant crowns	12 months
Rocket	d	21-35 days
Rockmelon (Cantaloupe)	dst	10-16
Rosemary	d	12 months
Sage	dst	18 months
Salsify	d	14-21
Silverbeet (Swiss Chard)	dst	7-12
Spinach	dt	5-11
Spring Onions (Bunching Onions)	st	6-10
Squash	dst	7-8
Summer Savory	dst	6-10
Sunflower	dst	10-11
Sweet Corn	dst	11-14
Sweet Marjoram	dt	8-10
Sweet Potato (Kumara)	plant crowns	15-17
Taro (Cocoyam)	plant tubers	28
Thyme	dst	42-52
Tomatillo	st	10-14
Tomato	dst	8-17
Turnip	d	6-9
Watermelon	dst	9-14
Winter Savory	dst	6-10
Yacon	plant tubers	25
Yam/Oka	plant tubers	15-20
Zucchini (Courgette, Marrow)	dst	6-9

Key:
d = sow seeds directly into ground
s = sow seeds into seed tray
ds = sow seeds directly into ground or seed tray
t = transplant seedlings (small plants) into larger pots or plant into ground
*= frost tender
**= sow after frost

Download printable PDF version of Gardening Calendar (Australian Temperate Climate) – October

To help improve these garden calendars, feedback and additional information from readers is greatly appreciated! Australia’s climate varies considerably, and local knowledge of when particular things need to be done in the garden are most helpful to others living in those area, so please feel free to share.