Planting guide

When to plant carrot

Sweet crunchy roots; short varieties suit pots and shallow beds. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–May.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 9–14 wks
Spacing: 5 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means carrot 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 carrot

Sow seed thinly on fine, stone-free soil; cover lightly.
Keep soil damp until seedlings appear (2 weeks).
Thin to 5 cm apart.
Pull when shoulders show 2 cm across.

Carrot varieties

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

Nantes Classicsweet · heirloom · 10–13 wksCylindrical, sweet and crunchy
Chantenay Red Cored Classicheirloom · storage · 10–13 wksShort, stocky roots good for heavy soil
Paris Market Classicpot-friendly · kid-favourite · heirloom · 9–11 wksRound roots for shallow pots
Little Fingers Classicpot-friendly · kid-favourite · fast · 9–10 wksFinger-sized sweet carrots
Purple Dragon Adventurouscolourful · kid-favourite · 11–14 wksPurple outside, orange inside
Black Nebula Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksNear-black carrots with sweet flavour and big antioxidant punch
Lunar White Adventurouscolourful · mild · 11–14 wksCreamy white roots; sweet and mild
Solar Yellow Adventurouscolourful · sweet · 11–14 wksYellow roots that are mild and juicy
Atomic Red Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksBright red roots rich in lycopene
Cosmic Purple Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksPurple skin with orange flesh

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club 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, Pea, Rosemary

Carrot by month

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

More to plant

Potato · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Parsnip · Swede

Not sure carrot 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