The short version: February sowing feeds the winter table. Outside the tropics, sow beetroot and carrot direct and raise brassicas in shaded, netted trays, plus leek in most zones, to plant as summer crops finish. Subtropical gardens can still sow tomato, cucumber, zucchini and sweet corn. The tropics are mid-wet, so stick to wet-season greens such as amaranth. Garlic, peas, broad beans and most bulb onions wait until March or later.
February has a look of its own: tomato vines yellowing from the bottom up, zucchini outrunning the kitchen, and broccoli the last thing on anyone's mind. That is how winter beds start a month late.
Zone lists below follow the data behind our What to Sow Now page. Herbs and flowers have their own February lists.
Raise winter seedlings in shaded, netted trays
- Sow 5 to 10 mm deep in fresh seed-raising mix.
- Shade the tray with about 30% shade cloth, off hot paving, and check moisture morning and late afternoon.
- Plant brassicas out at 5 to 10 cm tall with three or four true leaves, usually four to six weeks from sowing, after a few days without shade, on an overcast afternoon (see planting out seedlings). Broccoli held too long can form a tiny button head.
- Give leeks 8 to 16 weeks, then plant them at almost pencil thickness into holes 10 to 15 cm deep (see growing leeks).
February brassica seedlings meet caterpillar season in full swing. Our guide to starting winter brassicas in summer heat covers trays, shade and mesh step by step. The Queensland Government's diamondback moth guide notes its caterpillars abound from spring to autumn, a generation taking under 20 days in hot, dry weather. Cover trays and young plants with fine insect mesh, sealed at the edges, from sowing day; bird netting will not stop diamondback moth. See cabbage white and diamondback caterpillars.
What to hold back a little longer
Garlic waits until March, or April in the tropics; broad beans until March or April; and peas until at least April. Bulb onions start in March in arid gardens and April in temperate, Mediterranean and cool ones, because a plant that reaches winter thick-necked can flower instead of bulbing.
What to sow in February, zone by zone
The six zones are broad groupings; if you garden between two, lean on local cues such as your first autumn frost.
Tropical: Darwin in the Northern Territory, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland
Deep in the wet: Darwin Airport averages about 372 mm of rain in February against 20 mm in May, and small seed sown direct washes away. Raise small-seeded amaranth and Egyptian spinach under cover; sow Malabar spinach, moringa and yam bean direct in beds that shed water. Yam bean is grown for its tuber: its seeds, mature pods and leaves are poisonous. Okra opens the dry-season list in March, and most fruiting crops follow in April. The Northern Territory Government's Darwin and Katherine sowing calendar recommends beds raised at least 10 to 15 cm, so build them before the dry.
Subtropical: Brisbane and south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales
February is Brisbane's wettest month, about 176 mm: humidity is the enemy. For autumn picking where frost is rare, sow tomato, chilli, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, sweet corn, beans and okra; capsicum and eggplant closed in January. Raise broccoli, bok choy, leek and short-day onions in trays, sow beetroot, carrot and radish direct, and water in the morning so leaves dry by night.
Arid and semi-arid: Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Mildura in Victoria, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia
Alice Springs Airport's February tops average 35Β°C. A quick last round of zucchini, squash, cucumber and bush beans sown early, and a fast tomato seedling, can crop before frost returns from May. Raise broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage and leek in shaded trays. Sow beetroot, carrot, swede and turnip late in the month, as nights cool, under shade cloth.
Temperate: Sydney and the New South Wales coast, Melbourne in Victoria
Raise broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and kohl rabi in trays, and sow leek early for full-sized stems by late winter. Direct sow beetroot, carrot, parsnip, swede and turnip, lettuce and rocket in afternoon shade, and a last row of bush beans early. Plant out Brussels sprouts raised in December or January.
Mediterranean: Perth and southern Western Australia, Adelaide in South Australia
On average, February is Perth's hottest month and one of its driest, at about 13 mm of rain. Raise cabbage, cauliflower, kale and Chinese cabbage in shaded trays; broccoli follows in March. Sow beetroot, carrot, parsnip, swede and turnip under shade cloth, watering daily until up. Sow leek in trays or plant out earlier seedlings; sow bush beans one last time.
Cool and alpine: Tasmania, Canberra in the ACT, Ballarat in Victoria, Orange and Armidale in New South Wales, Stanthorpe in Queensland
The last call for slow brassicas: broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower close after February, since they must size up before Canberra Airport's mean minimum falls from 13.4Β°C in February to 2.5Β°C by May. Direct sow beetroot, carrot, parsnip, swede, turnip and kohl rabi, plus quick bok choy, tatsoi, mizuna, rocket and lettuce, and plant out earlier leek and Brussels sprouts seedlings.
Late-summer jobs in the patch
In a heatwave, water deeply early or late in the day, and leave transplanting, spraying and feeding until it breaks: feeding pushes soft growth that scorches, and white oil can burn leaves, so keep to its label's temperature limit. See our heatwave guide.
Sunscald is a pale, papery patch on tomato, capsicum, chilli or eggplant fruit suddenly exposed to sun, often after heavy pruning. Leave the leaves on, drape light shade cloth or an old sheet over plants on very hot days, and pick damaged fruit before rot sets in. See tomato fruit problems.
Save bean seed from open-pollinated varieties, not F1 hybrids: let pods on the strongest plants turn tan and rattle, then dry the shelled seed out of the sun until it shatters under a hammer, and store it cool, dark and airtight. See the seed saving guide.
Hold an empty bed with a cover crop. Buckwheat scattered at about 7 to 8 g per square metre flowers in five to eight weeks. Cut it then: plant seedlings through it as mulch, or dig it in and wait four to six weeks to sow. It suits February beds outside tropical and cool zones, and ours cannot go to Tasmania. Cool gardens can use tillage radish, but as a brassica it should not precede cabbage-family crops. See our cover crop guide.
Keep seed garlic bulbs whole in a dark, airy cupboard at about 15 to 20Β°C, not a hot shed; use the fridge only to pre-chill a cold-climate type before planting in a warm zone. Split cloves on planting day. See storing seed garlic and growing garlic; it cannot be sent to Western Australia or Tasmania.
Keeping the summer glut safely
Freeze, dry or pickle the beans, corn, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes you cannot eat fresh. Bottling needs care, because botulism bacteria can grow in low-acid food sealed from air. The Food Safety Information Council advises bottling vegetables only in vinegar, and adding citric acid to bottled tomatoes. CSIRO's guide to preserving vegetables and herbs in oil explains that oil is no preservative: vegetables, garlic or chillies under oil must be acidified or dried almost crisp by its method, or refrigerated and used within 10 days, the Council advises. If your vinegar label says 4%, CSIRO suggests 1.25 times the vinegar in American or British recipes, which assume 5%.
Frequently asked questions
Is February too late for tomatoes and other summer crops?
Not in subtropical gardens, or for a fast seedling in arid ones. On our calendar, temperate, Mediterranean and cool gardens closed tomato, cucumber, zucchini and sweet corn by January, as they would fruit into cooling weather. Bush beans still go in early, except in cool gardens.
Why do my carrot seeds not come up in February?
Carrot seed can take up to three weeks to emerge and dies if the surface dries or crusts. Lay a board, hessian or shade cloth over the watered row and lift it as seedlings show.
Why can I sow broccoli in February but not Brussels sprouts?
Most broccoli is ready 10 to 16 weeks from sowing. Brussels sprouts need six to nine months and must be big before the cold, so most southern gardens sow them in late spring or early summer.
Should I pull out tomatoes that are still cropping?
Not yet: plant each winter seedling as a summer plant finishes, potting on any that outgrow their cells. Our autumn changeover guide covers clearing and preparing those beds.
Pick the summer crop, sow the winter one in a tray beside it, and let the two hand over in their own time.
Related growing guides
- Starting winter brassicas in summer heat
- The autumn changeover: from summer beds to the winter patch
- Netting crops and fruit: exclusion nets, fruit bags and wildlife-safe mesh
- What to sow in March: vegetables for every zone
- What to sow in January: vegetables for every zone
- Herbs to sow in February, zone by zone
- Flowers to sow in February, zone by zone
- What to sow in autumn
- Winter vegetables across Australia
- Winter cover crops
Seed is in our vegetable seed range, and cover crops in our cover crop seed range (the mixes cannot be sent to Western Australia or Tasmania).