When to Plant Kale in Sydney, Warm Temperate Guide
Sow January to September. Right now in October it is out of season. The next sowing month is January.
Grow Kale in your space
- Planting window
- Sow from late summer through winter and pick leaves continuously from autumn to spring. Plants sown in late spring spend summer under...
- Days to harvest
- 55 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool climates. Part shade (afternoon) in subtropical and warmer zones.
- Water needs
- Deep watering 2-3 times per week. Consistent moisture produces tender leaves. Tolerates...
- Spacing
- 50cm apart, 60cm between rows
- Soil pH
- 5.5-6.8
Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
This Kale guide is written for the Warm Temperate zone, which takes in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Melbourne Canberra Alice Springs Perth
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Kale is the toughest and most productive leafy green brassica, available in curly, flat (Tuscan/cavolo nero), and red Russian forms. It tolerates frost (which sweetens its flavour), handles some heat, and produces for 6-12 months with regular harvesting. A nutritional powerhouse and genuinely easy to grow compared to heading brassicas.
See what grows now in your own postcode
Planting Calendar for Warm Temperate
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | S/T/D | S/T/D | S/T/D | S/T/D | S/T | S/T | S/T/D | T | - | - | - |
S = Seed Tray T = Transplant D = Direct Sow
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Current Growing Conditions
Soil temperature: 18.5°C (optimal range: 5–30°C) ✓ Ready to plant
Modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Sydney), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like
In October the Warm Temperate zone normally runs 24°C by day and 13°C overnight, with about 66 mm of rain over 7 or 8 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -1.5°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 153 postcodes, SILO.
How to Grow Kale in Warm Temperate Australia
When to Plant
Sow from late summer through winter and pick leaves continuously from autumn to spring. Plants sown in late spring spend summer under caterpillars and aphids.
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained soil with plenty of compost and aged manure. Tolerates a wider range of soils than heading brassicas.
- pH Range
- 5.5-6.8
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool climates. Part shade (afternoon) in subtropical and warmer zones.
- Spacing
- 50cm apart, 60cm between rows
- Watering
- Deep watering 2-3 times per week. Consistent moisture produces tender leaves. Tolerates some drought but leaves toughen. Avoid overhead watering.
Companion plants: Onion, Garlic, Celery, Beetroot, Dill, Chamomile
Avoid planting near: Strawberry, Tomato, Other brassicas in immediate succession
Grow before, grow after
Kale belongs with the brassicas, 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 brassicas go back in. The cabbage family is hungry for nitrogen and shares club root and other soil diseases.
Warm Temperate Growing Tips for Kale
Recommended Varieties
- Nero di Toscana
- Curly Blue Scotch
- Red Russian
- Dwarf Green Curled
Key Challenges
- Caterpillars from spring
- Powdery mildew in warm humid spells
- May need replacing after summer
Pro Tips
- Autumn planting gives the longest productive season
- Both Tuscan and curly types grow superbly in Sydney climate
- One of the easiest and most rewarding crops to grow in this zone
Harvesting Kale
When ready: Leaves are large enough to eat (15-20cm long for baby kale, 30cm+ for mature leaves). Dark green with firm texture. Lower leaves harvested first.
How to harvest: Snap or cut lower/outer leaves at the stem. Leave the growing tip and upper leaves to continue producing. Never harvest more than 1/3 of the plant at once. Twist and pull downward for clean removal.
Preserving: pressure canning
1 tested pressure-canning recipe for Kale: 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 Kale
When do you plant kale in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): Mar to Aug
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Feb to Jul
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Jan to Sep
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Jan to Mar, Aug to Dec
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Jan to Mar, Aug to Dec
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Mar to Jul
- Mediterranean (Perth): Jan to Jun, Aug to Oct
Does kale grow all year round in Sydney?
No. In the Warm Temperate zone the planting months are Jan to Sep. 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 Warm Temperate zone, Sydney is its reference city.