When to Plant Chickpeas in Melbourne, Cool Temperate Guide
Soil temperature is modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Melbourne), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like in Cool Temperate
In October the Cool Temperate zone normally runs 19°C by day and 8°C overnight, with about 67 mm of rain over 9 or 10 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -3.0°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 28 postcodes, SILO.
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This Chickpeas guide is written for the Cool Temperate zone, which takes in Melbourne, Hobart and Geelong. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Sydney Canberra Alice Springs Perth
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
- Planting window
- May to Aug
- Days to harvest
- about 14 weeks
- Sun
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 20 cm apart
Chickpeas are a hardy cool season legume. Sow straight into the garden in autumn and winter. Pick young pods to eat fresh like snow peas, or leave the plants to dry off and harvest dry chickpeas after about 100 days.
Published · By GardenBuddy.au
Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Planting Calendar for Cool Temperate
- Jan -
- Feb -
- Mar -
- Apr -
- May D
- Jun D
- Jul D
- Aug D
- Sep -
- Oct -
- Nov -
- Dec -
S = Seed Tray T = Transplant D = Direct Sow
Want a nudge when it is sowing time?
One email a week with what is worth planting in the Cool Temperate zone right now, Chickpeas included, plus which veg has jumped in price at the supermarket. Free, and you can stop it in one click.
How to Grow Chickpeas in Cool Temperate Australia
- Soil
- Moist, well drained soil enriched with aged manure or compost (Seed Collection).
- Salt
- Moderately sensitive. Copes with a little salt, but the harvest drops on salty bore water.
- Sunlight
- Full sun, at least 6 hours a day (Seed Collection).
- Spacing
- 20cm apart, 60cm between rows
- Watering
- Water deeply when the top 5 cm of soil is dry, early morning or late afternoon, and avoid wetting the leaves. Keep well watered in hot weather (Seed Collection).
- Good companions
- Lettuce, Cucumber, Carrot, Radish, Beetroot
- Keep away from
- Dwarf Beans, Fennel, Garlic, Peas, Potato, Sunflower, Sweet Corn, Tomato
- Grow before it
- Roots and alliums (Carrot, Beetroot, Onion)
- Grow after it
- Leafy greens and brassicas (Lettuce, Silverbeet, Broccoli)
Give the bed 3 turns before legumes go back in. Beans and peas fix nitrogen, so they leave the bed richer than they found it.
Cool Temperate Growing Tips for Chickpeas
Key Challenges
- Frost at flowering
- Ascochyta blight
- Grey mould
Pro Tips
- Cover plants on frosty nights
- Space plants for airflow
Pests and problems for Chickpeas in Cool Temperate
Harvesting Chickpeas
When ready: For fresh eating, pick pods when they are big enough, like snow peas. For drying, wait until the leaves brown (Seed Collection).
How to harvest: Frequent picking encourages more pods. For dry chickpeas, pull the whole plant, dry it on a wire rack, and collect seed as the pods split (Seed Collection).
Storing and preserving chickpeas
How to keep it
- Drying. Pull the whole plant when leaves brown, dry it on a wire rack, collect seed as pods split and store in an airtight container. Soak before cooking (Seed Collection).
What members get
- Soil and weather from your nearest station
- An email when it's time to sow
- Your own garden plan, including planning from a photo
- Price history and price alerts
- Pest risk alerts for your area
- Full salt and canning detail
Common Questions About Chickpeas
When do you plant chickpeas in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): Mar to May
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Apr to Jun
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): May to Aug
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): May to Aug
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): May to Aug
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Apr to Jun
- Mediterranean (Perth): May to Aug
Can you grow chickpeas all year round in Melbourne?
No. In the Cool Temperate zone the planting months are May to Aug. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
When should I plant Chickpeas in Melbourne?
The Seed Collection lists May to August for cool areas. Frost can drop flowers and pods, so protect plants when they flower.
What soil temperature do Chickpeas need?
Chickpeas germinate best when soil temperature is between 10°C and 15°C.
How do I know when Chickpeas are ready to harvest?
For fresh eating, pick pods when they are big enough, like snow peas. For drying, wait until the leaves brown (Seed Collection).
What grows well with Chickpeas?
Good companion plants for Chickpeas include: Lettuce, Cucumber, Carrot, Radish, Beetroot.
Are chickpeas salt tolerant?
Only a little. Chickpeas are moderately sensitive to salt, so the harvest drops on salty bore water. Mix salty water with rainwater, and mulch the bed.
Which zone am I in?
Type your postcode into the box near the top of the page and it tells you, and links this crop in your own zone if it differs. Or look it up on the grow zone map. This page is the Cool Temperate zone, Melbourne is its reference city.