Planting guide

When to plant zucchini

Almost too productive: one or two plants feed a family all summer. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Feb.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 90 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means zucchini 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 zucchini

Sow seed 3 cm deep in rich soil once it is warm.
Water at the base to avoid mildew.
Pick at 15 to 20 cm long, every couple of days.
Hand-pollinate if fruit rots while small.

Zucchini varieties

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

Black Beauty Classicbush · heavy-cropper · 6–9 wksDark green, glossy zucchini that crops heavily
Lebanese Classicbush · mild · 6–9 wksPale, tender and sweet; picks well small
Golden Classicbush · colourful · 6–9 wksBright yellow zucchini that is easy to spot
Costata Romanesco Adventurousheirloom · heavy-cropper · 7–9 wksRibbed Italian zucchini with nutty flavour
Ronde De Nice Adventurousheirloom · kid-favourite · pot-friendly · 6–9 wksRound fruit for stuffing; neat bushes for pots
Tromboncino Adventurousclimbing · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksClimbing curled squash; eat young like zucchini
Cocozelle Adventurousheirloom · bush · 7–9 wksStriped Italian zucchini, flavoursome and tender

Where to buy seeds

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

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

Good companions

Bean, Nasturtium, Corn

Zucchini by month

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

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Cucumber · Sweetcorn

Not sure zucchini 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