When to Plant Sweet Potato in Perth, Mediterranean Guide
Plant October to December. Right now in October you can plant.
Grow Sweet Potato in your space
Also called kumara.
- Planting window
- Plant slips once the soil is warm in spring and dig the tubers when the vines yellow in autumn. Perth's long hot summer suits them well...
- Days to harvest
- about 17 weeks
- Sunlight
- Full sun (minimum 6-8 hours). Heat-loving crop. The more warmth the better.
- Water needs
- Water regularly during establishment (first 3-4 weeks). Once vines are growing strongly...
- Spacing
- 35cm apart, 100cm between rows
- Soil pH
- 5.5-6.5
- Shop price
- $4.44/kg average
Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
This Sweet Potato 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
Sweet potatoes are a warm-season, frost-tender crop grown from vine cuttings (slips), not seed. They are highly productive in warm Australian climates, with a single plant producing 2-5 kg of tubers. Beauregard (orange flesh) dominates Australian production. Tropical and subtropical zones are ideal; temperate growers need warm microclimates and season-extension techniques.
See what grows now in your own postcode
Best Planting Window for Mediterranean
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | P | P | P |
P = Planting window
Plant slips once the soil is warm in spring and dig the tubers when the vines yellow in autumn. Perth's long hot summer suits them well. Adelaide crops are smaller, so plant early and choose the warmest bed.
Want a nudge when it is Sweet Potato sowing time in Perth?
One email a week with what is worth planting in the Mediterranean zone right now, Sweet Potato included, plus which veg has jumped in price at the supermarket. Free, and you can stop it in one click.
This month in Mediterranean
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.
The full twelve months are on the Mediterranean zone page.
How to Grow Sweet Potato in Mediterranean Australia
When to Plant
Plant slips once the soil is warm in spring and dig the tubers when the vines yellow in autumn. Perth's long hot summer suits them well. Adelaide crops are smaller, so plant early and choose the warmest bed.
- Soil
- Well-drained, loose, sandy loam. Avoid heavy clay or waterlogged soil. Do not over-fertilise. Rich soil produces excessive vine growth at the expense of tubers. Slightly raised mounds or ridges improve drainage and warming.
- pH Range
- 5.5-6.5
- Sunlight
- Full sun (minimum 6-8 hours). Heat-loving crop. The more warmth the better.
- Spacing
- 35cm apart, 100cm between rows
- Watering
- Water regularly during establishment (first 3-4 weeks). Once vines are growing strongly, reduce watering. Sweet potatoes are surprisingly drought-tolerant once established. Excessive watering...
Companion plants: Beans, Corn, Sunflower
Avoid planting near: No significant antagonisms, but vines will smother nearby low-growing crops
Grow before, grow after
Sweet Potato belongs with the root crops, the roots and alliums turn of a four turn bed rotation.
- Grow before it
- Fruiting crops (Tomato, Capsicum, Zucchini)
- Grow after it
- Legumes (Beans - Dwarf, Peas, Broad Beans)
Give the bed 3 turns before root crops go back in. Roots fork and go leafy in fresh manure, so they take the bed after the heavy feeders have used it.
Mediterranean Growing Tips for Sweet Potato
Recommended Varieties
- Beauregard
- Northern Star
- Evangeline
Key Challenges
- May need supplementary irrigation through dry summer
- Shorter warm season than tropics
Pro Tips
- Perth conditions are good for sweet potatoes
- Adelaide is more marginal. Choose a warm microclimate
- Use black plastic mulch to maximise soil warmth
Harvesting Sweet Potato
When ready: Foliage begins to yellow (4-5 months after planting). Leaves may show autumn colour change. Scratch soil near a plant to check tuber size. In frost-prone areas, harvest before first frost as frost kills vines and can damage tubers.
How to harvest: Cut back vines first. Use a garden fork inserted 30-40cm from the plant base to loosen soil. Lift very carefully. Sweet potato skin is thin and damages easily, and wounds lead to storage rot. Sort into damaged (use immediately) and undamaged (for curing and storage). Do NOT wash before curing.
Preserving: pressure canning
2 tested pressure-canning recipes for Sweet Potato: 2 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.
Worth growing?
A 2.4 m × 1.2 m bed fits 6 plants, about $40 worth at today’s Aldi and Woolworths prices, checked on 5 October.
That is roughly 9 kg at $4.44 a kilo.
Draw your sweet potato bed → No account needed.
Common Sweet Potato Pests in Mediterranean Zones
Fungal Blight, risk: LOW (score: 37/100)In the pest library for sweet potato:
Whitefly (Silverleaf and Greenhouse), high severity Rats and Mice, moderate severity Curl grub (scarab beetle larvae), moderate severityWhere to next
Supermarket Price
Current average retail: $4.44/kg (12-month range: $2.99–$4.90)
Grow your own and save on grocery bills.
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Open the planting dashboard Join GardenBuddy.auCommon Questions About Sweet Potato
When do you plant sweet potato in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): all year
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Jan, Sep to Dec
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Oct to Dec
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Nov to Dec
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Nov to Dec
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Oct to Dec
- Mediterranean (Perth): Oct to Dec
What else is sweet potato called?
Sweet potato is the usual Australian name. Overseas seed packets and recipes call it kumara. Same plant, same growing advice.
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.