Planting guide

When to plant swede

Hardy, sweet roots that sit in the ground until you want them. In Melbourne it goes in Feb–May.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 13–17 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means swede 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 swede

Sow seed 1 cm deep in summer to autumn.
Thin to 20 cm apart.
Keep moist and weed-free.
Lift at fist to grapefruit size.

Swede varieties

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

Champion Purple Top Classicheirloom · cold-hardy · 13–17 wksYellow flesh and purple shoulders; sweet after frost
Laurentian Classiccold-hardy · storage · 13–17 wksSmooth, round swede that stores well
Best of All Adventurousheirloom · 13–17 wksBig yellow roots with fine flavour

Where to buy seeds

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

Pea, Onion, Dill

Swede by month

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

More to plant

Potato · Carrot · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Parsnip

Not sure swede 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