When to Plant Snow Peas in Melbourne, Cool Temperate Guide
Also called mangetout, sugar snap peas.
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 Snow Peas 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
- Mar to Sep
- Days to harvest
- 60 days
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Regular
- Spacing
- 8 cm apart
- Soil pH
- 6.0–7.5
- Shop price
- $23.82/kg
Snow peas (mangetout, sugar peas, Chinese peas) are a cool-season legume grown for flat, edible pods eaten before peas develop. Like garden peas, fundamentally cool-season crops that fail in heat.
Published · By GardenBuddy.au
Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
Planting Calendar for Cool Temperate
- Jan -
- Feb -
- Mar D
- Apr D
- May D
- Jun D
- Jul D
- Aug D
- Sep D
- 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, Snow Peas included, plus which veg has jumped in price at the supermarket. Free, and you can stop it in one click.
How to Grow Snow Peas in Cool Temperate Australia
- Soil
- Well-drained, moderately fertile. Do not over-enrich with nitrogen.
- Salt
- Moderately sensitive. Copes with a little salt, but the harvest drops on salty bore water.
- pH Range
- 6.0-7.5
- Sunlight
- Full sun to light shade.
- Spacing
- 8cm apart, 60cm between rows
- Watering
- Keep evenly moist especially during flowering and pod production. Water at base.
- Good companions
- Lettuce, Carrot, Radish, Endive, Turnip
- Keep away from
- Chives (Gardenate lists chives under plants to keep apart from snow peas (no reason given).), Onion
- 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 Snow Peas
Recommended Varieties
- Oregon Giant
- Yakumo Giant
- Mammoth Melting
- Yellow Podded
Key Challenges
- Winter waterlogging
- Downy mildew
Pro Tips
- Ideal zone, snow peas perform superbly
- Succession sow for months of harvest
- Raised beds for winter drainage
Pests and problems for Snow Peas in Cool Temperate
Harvesting Snow Peas
When ready: Pods flat, translucent green, peas inside barely visible. Snap crisply.
How to harvest: Pick with two hands. Hold stem, snap pod. Pick every 2 days minimum.
Storing and preserving snow peas
How to keep it
- Freezing. Top and tail, remove strings. Blanch 1 minute, ice bath. Freeze flat on tray then bag. Keeps: 12 months.
- Stir-fry prep (freeze). Top, tail, slice diagonally. Blanch 30 seconds. Freeze in portions. Keeps: 6 months.
Grow vs buy
A 2.4 m × 1.2 m bed fits 26 plants, about $124 worth at today’s Aldi, Coles and Woolworths prices, checked today.
That is roughly 5 kg at $23.82 a kilo.
Draw your snow peas bed → No account needed.
What snow peas costs in the shops right now, retailer by retailer, updated daily.
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 Snow Peas
When do you plant snow peas in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): May to Jul
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Mar to Aug
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Mar to Aug
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Mar to Sep
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Mar to May, Jul to Sep
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Mar to Sep
- Mediterranean (Perth): Apr to Sep
Can you grow snow peas all year round in Melbourne?
No. In the Cool Temperate zone the planting months are Mar to Sep. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
What else is snow peas called?
Snow peas is the usual Australian name. Overseas seed packets and recipes call it mangetout, sugar snap peas. Same plant, same growing advice.
When should I plant Snow Peas in Melbourne?
Sow direct from autumn to early spring. Ideal conditions here; later sowings run into heat and mildew.
What soil temperature do Snow Peas need?
Snow Peas germinate best when soil temperature is between 8°C and 24°C.
How do I know when Snow Peas are ready to harvest?
Pods flat, translucent green, peas inside barely visible. Snap crisply.
What are the best Snow Peas varieties for Melbourne?
Recommended varieties for the Cool Temperate zone include: Oregon Giant, Yakumo Giant, Mammoth Melting, Yellow Podded.
What grows well with Snow Peas?
Good companion plants for Snow Peas include: Lettuce, Carrot, Radish, Endive, Turnip.
Are snow peas salt tolerant?
Only a little. Snow peas 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.