Best time to plant zucchini in Melbourne
Cucurbita pepo
Also called courgette
Sow zucchini in Melbourne in Oct to Dec.
Zucchini is a summer squash, mostly a compact bush in gardens, picked while seeds and rind are still soft enough to eat, normally at 15-25 cm. Most are green, though golden types are deep yellow or orange. Cooks treat the fruit as a vegetable. Discard any that taste very bitter, as they can cause severe stomach upset.
When to sow in Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC is in the cool zone. The zone also plants in Sep, but Melbourne's frost dates make those months risky for a frost-tender crop.
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
- How to start
- Sow directly in the bed
- Sowing depth
- 2-3cm
- Plant spacing
- 150cm
- Row spacing
- 90cm
- Height
- 70cm
- Germination
- About 12 days
- Time to harvest
- 50 days
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.