When to Plant Chickpeas in Cairns, Tropical Guide
Soil temperature is modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Cairns), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like in Tropical
In October the Tropical zone normally runs 34°C by day and 23°C overnight, with about 53 mm of rain over 5 or 6 wet days. Averages 1991 to 2026, 37 postcodes, SILO.
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This Chickpeas guide is written for the Tropical zone, which takes in Cairns, Townsville and Darwin. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Canberra Alice Springs Perth
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
- Planting window
- Mar to May
- 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 Tropical
- Jan -
- Feb -
- Mar D
- Apr D
- May D
- Jun -
- Jul -
- Aug -
- 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 Tropical 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 Tropical 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.
Tropical Growing Tips for Chickpeas
Key Challenges
- Humidity
- Heat
- Grey mould
Pro Tips
- Sow in the driest, coolest part of the year
- Give good airflow
Pests and problems for Chickpeas in Tropical
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 Cairns?
No. In the Tropical zone the planting months are Mar to May. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
When should I plant Chickpeas in Cairns?
The Seed Collection lists March to May for the tropics, the cooler dry months. Chickpeas are a cool season crop, so humidity and heat are the risks. This rating is our judgement.
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 Tropical zone, Cairns is its reference city.