When to Plant Spinach in Perth, Mediterranean Guide
Sow March to August. Right now in October it is out of season. The next sowing month is March.
Grow Spinach in your space
- Planting window
- Sow from March to August. Cool wet winters are excellent for spinach.
- Days to harvest
- 35 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool weather. Part shade beneficial in all but the coldest zones. Shade delays bolting.
- Water needs
- Consistent moisture essential. Light, frequent watering keeps soil evenly moist. Drought...
- Spacing
- 20cm apart, 30cm between rows
- Soil pH
- 6.0-7.5
Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
This Spinach guide is written for the Mediterranean zone, which takes in Perth, Adelaide and Bunbury. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Canberra Alice Springs
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
True spinach (English spinach) is a cool-season annual prized for its tender, dark green leaves. It is one of the most nutritious leafy greens but also one of the most temperamental to grow in Australian conditions. It bolts rapidly in heat and long day-lengths, making it primarily an autumn-winter-early spring crop across most of Australia. Understanding this limitation is key to successful growing.
See what grows now in your own postcode
Planting Calendar for Mediterranean
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | T/D | T/D | T/D | T/D | T/D | T/D | - | - | - | - |
S = Seed Tray T = Transplant D = Direct Sow
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Current Growing Conditions
Soil temperature: 15.6°C (optimal range: 4–25°C) ✓ Ready to plant
Modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Perth), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like
In October the Mediterranean zone normally runs 22°C by day and 10°C overnight, with about 38 mm of rain over 6 or 7 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -0.2°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 19 postcodes, SILO.
How to Grow Spinach in Mediterranean Australia
When to Plant
Sow from March to August. Cool wet winters are excellent for spinach.
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained soil heavily enriched with compost and well-rotted manure. Spinach is a heavy feeder that demands fertile soil.
- pH Range
- 6.0-7.5
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool weather. Part shade beneficial in all but the coldest zones. Shade delays bolting.
- Spacing
- 20cm apart, 30cm between rows
- Watering
- Consistent moisture essential. Light, frequent watering keeps soil evenly moist. Drought stress triggers bolting. Morning watering. Drip irrigation ideal.
Companion plants: Strawberry, Pea, Bean, Celery, Cauliflower, Radish
Avoid planting near: Beetroot (same family; shared pests and diseases)
Grow before, grow after
Spinach belongs with the leafy greens, the leafy greens and brassicas turn of a four turn bed rotation.
- Grow before it
- Legumes (Beans - Dwarf, Peas, Broad Beans)
- Grow after it
- Fruiting crops (Tomato, Capsicum, Zucchini)
Give the bed 3 turns before leafy greens go back in. Leaf crops want the nitrogen the legumes left behind.
Mediterranean Growing Tips for Spinach
Recommended Varieties
- Bloomsdale Long Standing
- Viroflay
- Winter Giant
- Matador
Key Challenges
- Summer heat prevents growing November-February
- Downy mildew in cool wet conditions
Pro Tips
- Perth/Adelaide cool seasons are excellent for spinach
- Exploit winter rainfall for minimal irrigation needs
- Autumn sowing grows beautifully through Mediterranean winter
Harvesting Spinach
When ready: Baby spinach: leaves 5-8cm (3-4 weeks). Full size: leaves 15-20cm (6-8 weeks). Leaves should be dark green, firm, and glossy. Harvest before any sign of flower stalk elongation.
How to harvest: Cut-and-come-again: cut outer leaves at base, leaving inner leaves and growing point. Or cut entire plant 3cm above ground for one large harvest (may regrow once). Harvest in cool of morning.
Preserving: pressure canning
1 tested pressure-canning recipe for Spinach: 1 where it is the crop being canned. Each one comes from published home canning guidelines. The conversion to Australian units is ours, with psi beside every kPa. Always follow your pressure canner's manual.
Where to next
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Open the planting dashboard Join GardenBuddy.auCommon Questions About Spinach
When do you plant spinach in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): Apr to Aug
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Apr to Jul
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Mar to Aug
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Feb to Sep
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Mar to Oct
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Mar to Aug
- Mediterranean (Perth): Mar to Aug
Does spinach grow all year round in Perth?
No. In the Mediterranean zone the planting months are Mar to Aug. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
Which zone am I in?
Type your postcode into the box under the heading and the page 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 Mediterranean zone, Perth is its reference city.