Best time to plant tomato in Australia
Solanum lycopersicum
Eaten as a vegetable but botanically a berry, the tomato is the fruit of a frost-tender, mostly annual vine in the nightshade family. Thousands of cultivars differ in shape, size, colour and taste, and the savoury umami flavour makes it a key ingredient in sauces, soups and salads.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
When to sow
| Zone | Months | How well checked |
|---|---|---|
| Cool | Sep to Dec | Matches local guides |
| Temperate | Aug to Dec | Matches local guides |
| Subtropical | Aug to Mar | Matches local guides |
| Tropical | Feb to Jul | Matches local guides |
| Arid | Mar to Sep | Broadly matches local guides, with some differences |
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Growing details
- How to start
- Raise seedlings, then transplant
- Sowing depth
- 5mm
- Plant spacing
- 45cm
- Row spacing
- 45cm
- Germination
- 4-10 days at 20-30°C
- Time to harvest
- 65 days
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.