Planting guide

When to plant mandarin

Easy-peel, sweet citrus that is a bit hardier than orange and good in a big pot. In Melbourne it goes in Nov–Mar.

Start as: Potted plant
Ready in: 3+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 300 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means mandarin can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's real monthly temperatures, not a zone map. 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 mandarin

Plant in a sunny, sheltered spot with good drainage.
Water deeply and mulch.
Feed in spring and autumn.
Pick when fully coloured and sweet.

Mandarin varieties

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

ImperialClassicsweet · 30–43 wksEasy to grow and peel; heavy cropper
EmperorClassicsweet · 30–43 wksLarge, juicy fruit
Satsuma OkitsuClassiccold-hardy · sweet · 30–43 wksEarly Japanese satsuma; seedless
AfourerAdventuroussweet · 30–43 wksLate, super-sweet mandarin

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings 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

Chive, Nasturtium, Marigold

Mandarin by month

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

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure mandarin 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 →