Planting guide

When to plant watermelon

Summer's best treat, but it needs room, heat and a long warm season. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 9–16 wks
Spacing: 150 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means watermelon 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 watermelon

Sow seed 3 cm deep in warm soil or plant seedlings.
Give it plenty of room; mulch to hold heat.
Water deeply until fruit sets, then ease off.
Harvest when the underside turns yellow and the tendril browns.

Watermelon varieties

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

Sugar Baby Classicdwarf · fast · pot-friendly · 11–13 wksSmall, sweet melons for small gardens
Crimson Sweet Classicsweet · heavy-cropper · 11–14 wksThe reliable big striped melon
Moon and Stars Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 13–16 wksDark green with yellow 'stars' and red flesh
Golden Midget Adventurousdwarf · colourful · fast · 9–11 wksTiny yellow-skinned melon with pink flesh
Yellow Doll Adventurouscolourful · fast · 10–13 wksYellow-fleshed small melon
Cream of Saskatchewan Adventurousheirloom · cold-hardy · 11–14 wksPale skin, white flesh, thrives in cool places
Charleston Grey Classicheirloom · heavy-cropper · 12–14 wksLong grey fruit that ships well

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

Corn, Radish, Marigold

Watermelon by month

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

More to plant

Pumpkin · Rockmelon · Squash · Honeydew melon · Luffa

Not sure watermelon 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