Planting calendar

Malaysia has no frost and no cold season, so most vegetables can be sown in any month. What really decides how well a crop does is rain, heat and pests. The northeast monsoon (roughly November to March) brings heavy, long rains, especially to the east coast — Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang — while the west coast gets afternoon storms around the inter-monsoon months (April–May and October–November). The southwest monsoon (about May to September) is usually the drier stretch on the west coast.

How to read the table: a dot means that month is a good, easy time to sow in the open. Leafy greens are marked year-round. Fruiting crops such as tomato, chili and cucumber are not marked for the wettest months, because constant rain brings split fruit, rot and leaf disease — you can still grow them then under a rain shelter or porch roof. On the east coast, add a little more caution from November to January.

Tip: instead of sowing one big batch, sow a small batch every 2–3 weeks. You get a steady harvest, and one bad spell of weather never wipes out everything.