Sweet potato planting is set by soil warmth, not the calendar. Warm soil at planting and a long, warm season afterwards arrive at very different times in Cairns, Canberra and Hobart. The dates below are a guide for an average season. In a cold spring, wait a fortnight. In a warm one, go early.
One planning note: slips take four to six weeks to sprout and root, so count back from your planting date to work out when the tuber should go into its tray or jar. A tuber started in late August is ready for a temperate garden in October.
Tropical: Darwin, Cairns, Townsville
Sweet potatoes can be planted almost all year in the tropics. The usual practice in the north is to plant as the wet season begins, in November or early December, and lift the crop in April or May as the dry sets in. Planting early in the dry season, from about April to June, also works where you can water right through, and it keeps the tubers out of saturated ground.
Wet-season plantings grow fast but tubers can rot in saturated ground, so plant on mounds or ridges. Tubers are usually ready in about four to five months. Rotate beds and clear all crop residue at harvest, because sweet potato weevil is most active in hot, dry conditions.
Subtropical: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Harbour
Plant slips from September through to December, and even into January on the coast. Frost is rare near the coast, so the limit is the length of warm weather left in the season rather than the risk of a cold snap.
Start tubers sprouting from early August. A September planting in Brisbane is usually lifting by late January or February, and a second planting in December can carry through to autumn. Toowoomba and the hinterland run a few weeks later than the coast because of cooler nights.
Arid and semi-arid: Alice Springs, Broken Hill, Mildura
Plant from October to November, once the cold nights are done. The crop needs steady watering right through summer. The long, hot season suits sweet potatoes well as long as the soil never dries out completely, and deep mulch is essential.
Some growers here give the bed afternoon shade in the worst of the heat, especially for newly planted slips. Sandy soils that repel water can be helped with a wetting agent before planting. Tubers are usually ready by March or April.
Temperate: Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Canberra
Plant from October to December, after the last frost, when the soil feels warm to the hand. Sydney and Newcastle can go in from October. Melbourne and Canberra are safer from November, and Canberra's last frosts can run into early November, so wait for them to pass. A sheltered, north-facing bed makes a real difference in both.
Start tubers sprouting in late August or September on a warm windowsill. A November planting in Melbourne is usually lifted in April or May, once the leaves yellow and well before the first frosts of winter. Do not leave it too late, because one hard frost blackens the vines and stops tuber growth for the season.
Mediterranean: Adelaide, Perth and southern WA
Plant from October to November, once the spring rain has eased and the soil has warmed. The dry, hot summer that follows suits sweet potatoes, provided the bed is mulched and watered deeply once a week. Adelaide gardens usually lift the crop from March.
A note for Perth and southern WA. Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send sweet potato tubers to Western Australia. The timing above still applies if you source planting material locally, and the growing guide covers everything else.
Cool and alpine: Ballarat, Orange, Bathurst, Armidale, Stanthorpe, the Tasmanian highlands
Plant in November, and only into the warmest, most sheltered bed you have, ideally about four weeks after the last expected frost. The season is short, so start tubers sprouting in September and plant out well rooted slips rather than freshly cut ones to save a fortnight.
A dark mulch over the bed, a north-facing wall behind it, or a large tub in full sun all help the soil warm faster. Expect smaller tubers than the subtropics produce, and lift the crop in March or April before the frosts return. As with Western Australia, we cannot send tubers to Tasmania, but the timing applies to locally sourced material. In a short season all three varieties come up smaller, so cool-district gardeners are usually safest with Northern Star, which finishes earliest, or Beauregard. Our variety comparison goes into the differences.
A quick calendar
- Tropical: November to early December as the wet begins, or April to June with steady water; mounds in the wet.
- Subtropical: September to December, with a second planting possible in December or January.
- Arid: October to November, with mulch and steady water.
- Temperate: October to December, after the last frost.
- Mediterranean: October to November, once spring rain eases.
- Cool and alpine: November, into the warmest sheltered bed.
If you are new to the crop, our full guide to growing sweet potatoes covers preparing the bed, planting slips, harvest, curing and storage. For the rest of the season's sowing, the Australian Sowing Almanac lists every crop by zone and month, and our foundation seed tubers are in the sweet potato tuber collection. Frost risk for your district is mapped by the Bureau of Meteorology as average potential frost days, month by month, and is worth checking before you commit a bed.
Get the tubers
First generation foundation seed tubers from an Australian specialist grower, supplied clean for sprouting your own slips. Packs of 2, 4 or 10 tubers, all in our sweet potato tuber collection.
Sweet Potato - Beauregard TubersOrange flesh, rose gold skin. The productive all-rounder.See the tubers
Sweet Potato - Eclipse TubersPurple flesh, white skin. Dense and drier, makes a violet mash.See the tubers
Sweet Potato - Northern Star TubersWhite flesh, red skin. Early, heavy cropping, great for chips.See the tubers
More sweet potato guides
Frequently asked questions
Can I plant sweet potatoes in winter?
Only in the tropics. Everywhere else the plant stops growing in cold soil and is killed by frost, so slips go out in spring once the soil has warmed.
How do I know the soil is warm enough?
If the soil feels cold to the back of your hand at 10 cm depth, it is too early. In most areas the right time lines up with when tomatoes are being planted out.
What if I plant late?
A late planting still produces, but the tubers are smaller because they have less time to swell. In temperate and cool gardens, aim to have slips in by mid December at the latest.
Can sweet potatoes grow in pots?
Yes, in a large tub of at least 50 cm across and deep, in full sun. Pots warm up faster than garden soil, which is an advantage in cool districts, though they need more frequent watering in summer.
Do the three varieties have different planting times?
No. Beauregard, Eclipse and Northern Star all follow the same calendar and all need about four to five warm months. In marginal cool areas Northern Star and Beauregard are the safer choices, simply because there is less season to work with.
Can I get sweet potato tubers sent to WA or Tasmania?
No. Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send sweet potato tubers to Western Australia or Tasmania. The planting calendar still applies to locally sourced material.