The short version: Outside the tropics, once frost has passed, sow sweet corn, beans, cucumber and pumpkin into soil of 16°C or more, melons and zucchini from 18 to 21°C, and okra from 20°C. Cool and alpine gardens plant tomatoes out after the last frost and keep planting potatoes. Tropical gardens, entering the wet, sow rosella and amaranth in raised beds and snake beans on mounds. English spinach is out of season, and peas are finished outside the coldest districts.
By November the spring rush has turned into a sprint. Beans are climbing their stakes and the lettuce has started to stretch upwards. Soil that was too cold for summer seed in September can be too hot for salad seed by December.
Find your zone below, check the soil, then sow. Our sowing chart for each zone has the full list.
Soil warmth cuts both ways
Summer seed rots in cold soil, lettuce seed stalls in hot soil, and November gardens can sit near both limits. Push a kitchen thermometer 10 cm down at about 10 am on three mornings, average the readings and compare, as our soil temperature lesson explains:
| Crop | Sow when the soil reads |
|---|---|
| Beans, sweet corn, cucumber, pumpkin | 16°C or more |
| Rockmelon | 18°C or more |
| Okra, rosella | 20°C or more; cooler soil delays or stops okra |
| Zucchini, watermelon | 21°C or more |
| Lettuce | Best at 10 to 20°C; struggles above about 27°C |
What to sow in November, zone by zone
These zones are broad groupings; between two, go by local signs such as your last frost.
Tropical: Darwin in the Northern Territory, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland
The build-up brings the first storms: Bureau of Meteorology averages give Darwin Airport about 147 mm of November rain, double October's. Sow rosella, amaranth, Egyptian spinach, Ceylon spinach and purslane in raised beds, and plant sweet potato slips on mounds as the wet begins. Snake beans can grow through the wet on mounded, free-draining beds, the Northern Territory Government notes.
Leave for later: lettuce, tomatoes, melons, cucumber, zucchini, okra, bush and climbing beans, carrots and brassicas, all dry-season crops.
Subtropical: Brisbane and south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales
Sow okra, rosella, snake beans, amaranth, kang kong, sweet corn, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, bitter melon, gourds and luffa, plant out eggplant, capsicum, chilli and heat-tolerant tomatoes, and get peanuts in by late November. November melons ripen into the humid peak, so choose quick types. Sow beans either side of the muggiest weeks and check seedlings twice a week for bean fly.
Leave for later: brassicas, peas and potatoes, back from February to April.
Arid and semi-arid: Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Mildura in Victoria, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia
Around Mildura, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie, sow melons, okra, rosella, amaranth, sweet corn, beans, pumpkin, cucumber and zucchini, plant out tomato and capsicum seedlings, and finish planting peanuts, sweet potato slips, chilli and eggplant. Alice Springs closes its first summer planting in October and opens the second in January, as our arid summer guide explains. Kalgoorlie shares Perth's shipping limits, listed under Mediterranean, and our sweet corn seed cannot be sent to the Northern Territory.
Leave for later: lettuce, beetroot, carrot and silverbeet, all cool-season crops.
Temperate: Sydney and the New South Wales coast, Melbourne in Victoria
In Sydney, sow sweet corn, beans, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, cucumber, rockmelon, watermelon, peanuts and okra direct. Melbourne waits for Melbourne Cup weekend in early November to sow beans and plant out melons, okra, capsicum and eggplant. Both cities keep planting tomatoes and sowing beetroot, carrot, parsnip and silverbeet, with lettuce and rocket in shade, plant the last seed potatoes, and grow cabbage and cauliflower under insect mesh against caterpillars.
Leave for later: peas and English spinach.
Mediterranean: Perth and southern Western Australia, Adelaide in South Australia
Beds dry fast from November: water before sowing and mulch when seedlings show. Sow okra, rosella, amaranth, peanuts, beans, melons, pumpkin, zucchini and cucumber, plant out tomatoes, capsicum and chilli, and add eggplant once nights stay above 10°C. Adelaide sows sweet corn from November to January. Beetroot, carrot, silverbeet and lettuce carry on with shade and a daily moisture check. Our sweet corn seed, most capsicum, about half our chilli and some tomato lines cannot be sent to Western Australia.
Leave for later: peas, cabbage and potatoes. Cauliflower trays start in December.
Cool and alpine: Tasmania, Canberra in the ACT, Ballarat in Victoria, Orange and Armidale in New South Wales, Stanthorpe in Queensland
A Canberra frost can still arrive in November, so keep frost cloth handy all month. Tomato, capsicum, chilli and eggplant seedlings go out after the last frost, around Melbourne Cup weekend, later in Canberra. Sow bush beans, sweet corn, cucumber and zucchini direct, plant out pumpkin and quick melons, and keep planting potatoes. For autumn and winter, sow broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kale, plus beetroot, carrot, parsnip and kohlrabi. Our sweet corn seed and some tomato lines cannot go to Tasmania.
Leave for later: English spinach and rosella. Peas are finished, and our pea seed cannot go to Tasmania.
The rest of the November list
Cool gardens start bitter melon, gourds and luffa indoors. Cape gooseberry, burdock, mangel wurzel, celery and celeriac suit temperate and cool beds, and winged bean, a tropical climber, wants warm soil and a trellis. Celtuce, garland chrysanthemum and Florence fennel suit cool gardens, with swede to follow from December, though our fennel seed cannot go to Tasmania or Victoria; endive and cress carry on in shaded temperate beds. Asparagus seed, and rhubarb seed in temperate and cool beds, can still go in, into December in cool districts.
Missed spring? Quick crops still fit
Outside the tropics these crops are ready fast in warm soil, though lettuce and spring onion struggle in subtropical and arid heat:
| Crop | First picking |
|---|---|
| Radish, salad types | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Loose-leaf lettuce, leaf amaranth | Leaves from about 4 weeks |
| Zucchini | 6 to 9 weeks |
| Bush beans | From about 8 weeks |
| Spring (bunching) onion | 8 to 14 weeks |
They also fill gaps where a crop has finished. Sow a short row every two to three weeks, and sow zucchini again four to six weeks after the first. Succession planting sets out the rhythm.
Jobs for a fast-growing garden
- Plant out at the packet spacing, water in, check the soil daily until seedlings establish, and hunt snails and slugs after dark. See planting out seedlings.
- Thin direct-sown rows early: carrots to about 5 cm, beetroot to 10 cm, as our thinning lesson shows.
- Feed once plants are established, side dressing tomatoes at first flowers and sweet corn at knee height.
- Train and weed while growth is fast: tie in tomatoes and climbers, and hoe weeds small.
- Prepare for heat: test the irrigation, water deeply and less often, mornings where you can, and move pots out of afternoon sun. See protecting vegetables in a heatwave.
Sweet potatoes: grow the slips first
Sweet potato is planted as slips, shoots sprouted from a tuber. Allow four to six weeks for a tuber to sprout and root its slips, so one started in November gives slips for December. That suits subtropical and temperate gardens, but arid and cool gardens plant by November and Mediterranean gardens by December, so their tubers start in September or October. See our sweet potato planting dates by zone.
Quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy mean we cannot send seed potatoes to Western Australia, Tasmania or Kangaroo Island, or sweet potato tubers to Western Australia or Tasmania. Australian Interstate Quarantine shows how to check each state's rules for plants and seeds.
Frequently asked questions
Is November too late for tomatoes?
Not for seedlings, except in the tropics and around Alice Springs. Late in the month, choose cherry or early types, which crop sooner. Seed spends six to eight weeks in a punnet first, so cool gardens should plant seedlings.
Can I still plant potatoes in November?
Yes, in temperate gardens to the end of the month and in cool and alpine gardens to December. Elsewhere the spring window has mostly closed, because tubers form poorly in hot soil. See when to plant potatoes, zone by zone.
Can I sow Asian greens in November?
Yes in cool gardens, where choy sum and tatsoi still go in. Elsewhere bok choy, mizuna, mustard and Chinese cabbage tend to bolt as days lengthen and warm, so grow heat-loving amaranth, kang kong and Ceylon spinach. See why vegetables bolt.
Why is my lettuce seed not coming up?
Hot soil, usually. Sow late in the day, barely cover the seed and shade the row, or swap to leaf amaranth.
Sow what the soil is ready for, a little at a time, and keep a packet back for summer's gaps.
Related growing guides
- Starting winter brassicas in summer heat
- Netting crops and fruit: exclusion nets, fruit bags and wildlife-safe mesh
- What to sow in December: vegetables for every zone
- Herbs to sow in November, zone by zone
- Flowers to sow in November, zone by zone
- The October vegetable list for every zone
- Summer crops in a short, cool season
Find the crops above in our vegetable seed range, and potatoes in the seed potato collection (not sent to Western Australia, Tasmania or Kangaroo Island).