Planting guide

When to plant malabar spinach

Heat-loving climbing vine with thick, spinach-like leaves; thrives when real spinach bolts. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 8–11 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means malabar spinach 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 malabar spinach

Sow seed 1 cm deep when soil is warm.
Give it a trellis to climb.
Pick leaves and shoot tips regularly.
Let seeds drop to self-sow.

Malabar spinach varieties

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

Red Stem Classicheat-tolerant · climbing · 8–11 wksVigorous red-stemmed vine
Green Stem Classicheat-tolerant · climbing · 8–11 wksGreen climbing leafy summer vine

Where to buy seeds

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

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

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

Good companions

Basil, Okra, Tomato

Malabar spinach by month

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

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Bok Choy

Not sure malabar spinach 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