Getting started
Sowing and space
Raise or buy healthy seedlings of a variety matched to the local season.
The cycle is an editorial band linked to the method above. Cultivar, temperature, transplant age and the harvest stage can change it.
Allow about 40 cm of usable depth and roughly 55 cm between plants. The crop normally suits a bed or open soil better than a typical domestic container.
Water demand is frequent and even. That is not a fixed timetable: heat, wind, rain, container size and growth stage change the interval.
Planting windows by broad profile
The highlighted months are conservative editorial references, not a current forecast or postcode calendar. Confirm the cultivar, packet, current warning and local advice.
Tropical wet–dry
Only the mildest part of the dry season is a reasonable editorial window.
Humid subtropical
Hot and arid
Warm temperate
Cool temperate
Select maturity timing for local frost and spring warming rather than using one national variety.
Practical care
- Avoid root restriction in a small pot.
- Keep growth steady from transplant to head formation.
Points to check
- Heat or interrupted growth can leave small, loose heads.
- Caterpillar pressure requires early observation.
Provenance and confidence
This rule is editorial guidance without claimed independent agronomic review. Confidence describes evidence coverage, not the chance of a harvest.
Australian home food garden editorial synthesis — version 1
Original synthesis for broad Australian profiles. It remains editorial draft until independent agronomic review is recorded.