Planting guide

When to plant mustard greens

Fast, peppery leaves for stir-fries and salads; cut-and-come-again in cool weather. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Jun.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 5–9 wks
Spacing: 15 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means mustard greens 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 mustard greens

Sow thinly and cover lightly.
Thin to 15 cm.
Keep moist; cool weather is best.
Cut outer leaves when hand-sized.

Mustard greens varieties

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

Red Giant Classichot · colourful · cold-hardy · 6–9 wksPurple-red leaves with a horseradish bite
Tendergreen Classicmild · fast · 5–7 wksMild mustard spinach
Wasabi Adventuroushot · fast · 5–7 wksLeaves with a wasabi tang
Florida Broadleaf Adventurousheat-tolerant · 6–9 wksChinese mustard
Bau-Sin Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Broad Leaf Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Chinese Broadleaf (Chinese Celery) Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Chinese Shuidong Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Chirimen Hakarashi Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Ethiopian Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Gai Choy (Swatow) Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Golden Streaks Classic5–9 wks
Greens- Gai Choi Classic5–9 wks
Greenwave Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Horned Classic5–9 wks
Japanese Giant Garnet Classicheirloom · giant · 5–9 wks
Komatsuna Classic5–9 wks
Lime Streaks Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Old Fashioned Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Osaka Purple Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 5–9 wks
Ruby Streaks Classic5–9 wks
Ruffled Wasabina Classic5–9 wks
Shuidong Classic5–9 wks
Southern Giant Curled Classicheirloom · giant · 5–9 wks
Swollen Stem Classic5–9 wks
Tender Green Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Tsa Tsai Round Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Wasabina Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Yanagawa Takana Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks
Yukina Savoy Classicheirloom · 5–9 wks

Where to buy seeds

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

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

Good companions

Onion, Carrot, Dill

Mustard greens by month

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

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Bok Choy

Not sure mustard greens 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