Seed Subscription: Vegetable, Tropical Climate, Autumn 2025

Subscriptions are an excellent way to explore new seed varieties without having to spend time choosing the seeds yourself, and are perfect for busy gardeners, delivering seeds and all the information you need to plant them directly to your letterbox. 

Each season we’ll choose a selection of seed varieties tailored to your climate, and send you the seeds plus a colour information sheet with photos, tips and sowing information - all you need to do is plant!

You are currently viewing a single season of seeds which can be purchased individually. To subscribe to a years worth of seeds click here.

Seeds included in this subscription:

• 

  Broccoli- Di Ciccio

  Italian heirloom from 1890. A standard variety producing blue/green heads to 10cm followed by numerous side shoots. Long harvesting. Great general purpose variety.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 3-7 days @ 8-30°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 60cm, Spacing 50cm. 75-85 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: MAR APR MAY JUN (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Beetroot- Chioggia

  Very attractive beets with pink/red and white alternating rings. Extra sweet flavour. Looks great in salads. Good for boiling, pickling and baking. Sometimes called "Candystripe beet".

  Sow direct, 15mm. Germination 5-10 days @ Oct-30°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 50cm, Spacing 10cm. 60-65 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: MAR APR MAY JUN (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Cauliflower- Snowball

  Crisp, tender and compact white heads growing to 15cm. Excellent flavour. Good variety for warmer climates. Early maturing.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 7-14 days @ 10-30°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 75cm, Spacing 50cm. 70-90 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: JAN FEB MAR APR (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Leek- Elephant

  Large leeks that can grow up to 10cm in diameter. Good flavour. Perfect for salads, stews, soups, stir-fries and steamed.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 10-14 days @ 18-23°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 45cm, Spacing 12cm. 100 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: FEB MAR APR MAY (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

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  Endive- Green Curled Ruffec

  Well know variety. Curled crispy dark green leaves. Resistant to cold very wet conditions. Commonly used raw as a salad green but can be eaten cooked in stir-fries, soups or stews.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 4-7 days @ 15-18°C.Annual. Rows 50cm, Height 20cm, Spacing 30cm. 90 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: APR MAY JUN JUL (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Brussels Sprouts- Red

  Heirloom variety growing to 80cm that produces an abundance of red coloured sprouts. Milder flavour than the green type. Colour is improved by frost. Long growing season up to 8 months. Excellent nutty flavour. Long producing.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 7-14 days @ 7-25°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 70cm, Height 80cm, Spacing 50cm. 90-120 days .

  Best months in Tropical Climates: FEB MAR APR (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Cabbage- Copenhagen Market

  Heirloom Dutch cabbage producing small tight leafed heads around 15cm in diameter. Early cropping variety with good uniformity and great cabbage flavour. Good cooked or raw in salads.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 4-10 days @ 18-24°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 40cm, Spacing 30cm. 60-100 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: APR MAY JUN (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Onion- Amposta Purple

  Heirloom variety producing medium-sized red and purple bulbs with dense purple/white flesh. Has a mild, sweet flavour, good for salads, can be eaten raw or cooked. Stores well. Requires 12-14 hours of daylight. Named after Amposta, Spain.

  Sow direct or raise seedlings, 5mm. Germination 7-10 days @ 20-25°C.Biennial (usually grown as an annual). Rows 40cm, Spacing 10cm. 180-240 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: FEB MAR APR MAY (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Sugarsnap Pea- Cascadia

  Climbing sugar snap grows to 100cm. Best on a trellis or as a ground bush. Sweet, thick green edible pods up to 8cm. Great raw, steamed, or fried. High yield. Ideal for home gardens.

  Sow direct, 20mm. Germination 7-21 days @ 5-25°C.Annual. Rows 50cm, Height 100cm, Spacing 10cm. 67 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: MAR APR MAY JUN (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

• 

  Broad Bean- Coles Dwarf

  Dwarf variety with 10-15cm pods on 90cm stems. Earlier producer than 'Aquadulce'. Ideal for windy sites due to shorter height. Broad beans can be used fresh, dried, raw in salads, or cooked. Excellent flavour. Also known as "Fava beans".

  Sow direct, 30mm. Germination 7-14 days @ 6-24°C.Annual. Rows 20cm, Height 90cm, Spacing 15cm. 80 days.

  Best months in Tropical Climates: APR MAY JUN (Click for full sowing chart, grow guide and more)

Tips for gardening in autumn:

Harvest harvest harvest! Get the most from your summer gardening efforts by harvesting leafy greens, herbs and fruit before they set seed or the cooling weather stops them producing. Harvesting regularly can extend the cropping season of many vegetables into autumn, boosting your harvest and creating opportunities to preserve excess produce. Frost-tender herbs like basil can be harvested, chopped and frozen to use through winter.

Succession planting: If summer crops are still producing, start your early autumn seeds in seedling trays so they’re ready to plant out once warm-season veggies are removed. Leafy greens can also be succession planted, starting a third of a packet of seeds each month. This approach to planting avoids gluts and gaps in production and is the key to growing vegetables year-round.

End of season clean-up: As summer crops end their productive lives, remove them to the compost bin along with any fallen fruit. Be vigilant about dealing with weeds before they set seed. Tidy and store stakes and trellises that won’t be needed over winter. Leave some stems and seed heads of flowers in situ to provide food and nesting material for birds and insects.

Build soil health: Autumn is a good time to enrich your soil with organic matter so it’s ready for new planting. Spread a layer of compost on the surface before planting seeds or seedlings - there’s no need to dig it in, the worms and other invertebrates in your garden will do that work for you. If growing ‘hungry’ crops including brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale or cauliflower), add some aged animal manure or slow-release fertiliser to feed your crops through winter.

Pests and diseases to look out for in autumn:

Cabbage moth and cabbage white butterfly: These white moths and butterflies seem to be in plague proportions in some states this year! They love all brassicas, often laying their eggs on the underside of leaves. The caterpillars match the colour of the leaves they feed on and often lie along the mid-ribs of leaves, making them tricky to see. They’re voracious feeders, creating large holes in leaves and sometimes skeletonising them.

Use netting to exclude butterflies and moths or decoys to deter them, pick the caterpillars off the plants or use an appropriate spray such as Dipel. Planting brassicas a little later in the season, when the temperatures have started to drop, can avoid the problem altogether as cabbage moths and cabbage white butterflies are less active in cool weather.

Powdery mildew: Caused by fungal spores reproducing on the leaves of plants, powdery mildew first looks like white spots on leaves, but affected areas can spread quickly to cover the entire leaf surface with a white powdery coating. While rarely fatal, powdery mildew can reduce yields. Water plants at soil level (not on the leaves) to prevent spores splashing from plant to plant, allow good air flow between plants, remove affected leaves and if necessary spray with an appropriate fungicide or homemade spray. 

Bi-carb of soda, also known as baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, is known to be effective at reducing powdery mildew and several other common fungus problems without posing the toxic risks of other treatments. Simply dissolve a teaspoon of the powder into one litre of ordinary water and add a few drops of liquid soap to help the mixture stick to the leaves. Pour the mixture into a regular garden sprayer or mister, shake it thoroughly, and spray liberally over the affected plants.
 

Product code: SS_VEG_TROP_AUT_2025