Planting guide

When to plant brussels sprouts

Tall stalks of mini cabbages, sweeter after frost; a long-season crop. In Melbourne it goes in Jan–Feb.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 14–21 wks
Spacing: 60 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means brussels sprouts can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
Central Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
Mandurah	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
Bunbury	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	●
London	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant brussels sprouts

Sow seed indoors or buy seedlings in early summer.
Plant deep and firm; stake in windy spots.
Net against caterpillars and feed monthly.
Pick sprouts from the bottom up.

Brussels Sprouts varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Long Island Improved Classicheirloom · cold-hardy · 16–20 wksReliable heirloom sprouts for autumn pickings
Evesham Special Classiccold-hardy · 16–21 wksBritish heirloom sprout, tall and productive
Red Rubine Adventurouscolourful · 16–20 wksRed-purple sprouts that keep colour when lightly cooked

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Beet

Brussels Sprouts by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Cabbage · Broccoli · Cauliflower · Kohlrabi · Wombok · Broccolini

Not sure brussels sprouts is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now