Growing in Richmond

Best time to plant tomatillo in Richmond

Physalis philadelphica

Also called husk tomato, Mexican husk tomato, Mexican green tomato, miltomate, Mexican groundcherry

Sow tomatillo in Richmond in Oct to Dec.

Tomatillos are small round fruit, green or green-purple, from a nightshade plant first grown in Mexico before Columbus. A mainstay of Mexican cooking, they can be used raw or cooked, most famously in salsa verde. The plant is perennial but usually treated as a yearly crop.

When to sow in Richmond

Richmond, NSW is in the temperate zone. The zone also plants in Aug to Sep, but Richmond's frost dates make those months risky for a frost-tender crop.

Not yet checked against a local guide.

Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.

Frost in Richmond

Frost usually arrives in Richmond around late May and finishes by early September. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as early May or as late as late September, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.

From its Bureau of Meteorology station, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.

On a shared plot: suits a plot

Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.

Growing details

How to start
Raise seedlings, then transplant
Sowing depth
4mm
Plant spacing
90cm
Row spacing
60cm
Height
100cm
Germination
15-20 days at 22-28°C
Time to harvest
70-90 days
Frost
Frost tender
Sun
Full sun
Life cycle
annual

These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.

Tomatillo elsewhere

Tomatillo across Australia