Best time to plant sweet potato in Melbourne
Ipomoea batatas
Also called kumara, sweetpotato
Sow sweet potato in Melbourne in Oct to Nov.
Sweet potato belongs to the morning glory family and is grown for its big, starchy roots with a sweet taste. Flesh and skin colour vary between cultivars, and young leaves and shoots can be eaten as greens. Despite the name, it is only distantly related to the potato.
When to sow in Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC is in the cool zone. Its months for sweet potato apply here without a frost adjustment.
Matches local guides.
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Frost in Melbourne
Frost usually arrives in Melbourne around mid June and finishes by late August. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as late May or as late as late September, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.
From the average of its 2 Bureau of Meteorology stations, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
Growing details
- Sowing depth
- 7cm
- Plant spacing
- 30cm
- Row spacing
- 90cm
- Height
- 25cm
- Time to harvest
- 100-150 days from planting
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.