How to Grow Tomatoes in Australia
Varieties, planting times, staking, feeding, and troubleshooting for every region
Tomatoes are Australia's most popular homegrown crop. Nothing from a supermarket comes close to the flavour of a tomato picked warm off the vine, and they grow well in every part of the country with the right timing and variety selection.
This guide covers five proven varieties for Australian gardens, planting calendars for all 10 regions, and practical advice on staking, feeding, watering, and solving common problems. Whether you are growing your first plant or your fiftieth, there is something here to help you get a better harvest.
When to Plant in Your Region
Best Tomato Varieties for Australia
Grosse Lisse
The classic Australian tomato. Large, round fruit with a balanced flavour. Reliable cropper that suits all regions. Semi-determinate habit, so it produces over a long season without growing unmanageably tall.
Tommy Toe
Small cherry type that is incredibly productive. Sweet flavour and strong disease resistance make it perfect for beginners and kids. One plant can produce hundreds of fruit over a season.
Roma
Paste tomato with thick flesh and few seeds. Best for sauce, passata, and preserving. Determinate habit means the fruit ripens in a concentrated flush, which is ideal for bulk processing. Heavy cropper.
Mortgage Lifter
Huge beefsteak fruits that can reach up to 1 kg. Rich, old-fashioned flavour that is hard to beat in a sandwich. Needs strong staking and a long warm season to perform. Indeterminate, so keep training it upwards.
Black Russian
Deep purple-brown fruit with intense, complex flavour. Indeterminate, mid-season variety that looks beautiful in salads alongside red and yellow types. Slightly thinner skin, so eat fresh rather than storing.
Starting from Seed
Start tomato seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last expected frost. Fill seed trays with quality seed-raising mix and sow seeds 5 mm deep. Keep the mix moist and warm. Tomato seeds germinate best at soil temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.
Place trays in a warm, bright spot or use a heat mat to maintain temperature. Seedlings should emerge within 7 to 14 days. Once they have two sets of true leaves, pot them up into individual containers. Harden off seedlings by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions over a week before transplanting.
Planting Out
Tomatoes need full sun. Choose a spot that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Prepare the soil by digging in plenty of compost and aged manure. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and perform best in rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8.
Plant seedlings deep, burying the lower part of the stem up to the first set of leaves. The buried stem will develop extra roots, giving the plant a stronger root system. Space plants 60 cm apart in rows 80 cm apart.
Water in well after planting and apply a thick layer of mulch (straw or sugar cane) to keep roots cool and retain moisture. Leave a gap around the stem to prevent collar rot.
Staking and Support
Stake tomatoes at planting time, not later. Pushing a stake in after the plant has grown risks damaging the root system. Use a sturdy 1.8 m stake driven 30 cm into the ground beside each plant.
There are three common support methods:
- Single stake: Tie the main stem to a stake with soft ties as it grows. Simple and effective for most home gardens.
- Tomato cage: A wire cage around each plant supports side branches without tying. Good for bushy determinate varieties like Roma.
- String trellis: Run a horizontal wire above the row and drop strings to each plant. Twist the stem around the string as it grows. This is the method used by most commercial growers and works well for indeterminate types.
Feeding
Tomatoes are heavy feeders. Start with well-prepared soil, then begin liquid feeding every two weeks once the first flowers appear. Use a potassium-rich fertiliser (look for one labelled for tomatoes or flowering plants) to promote fruit development.
Avoid high-nitrogen fertilisers once the plant starts flowering. Too much nitrogen produces lush green growth at the expense of fruit. If your plants are dark green and leafy but not setting fruit, cut back on nitrogen.
Watering
Water deeply and consistently. Tomatoes need even moisture throughout the growing season. Irregular watering is the number one cause of blossom end rot and fruit splitting.
Water at the base of the plant, not overhead. Wet foliage encourages fungal diseases. A drip system or soaker hose is ideal. In hot weather, established plants may need watering every day or every second day. Mulch heavily to reduce water loss.
Common Problems
Blossom end rot
A dark, sunken patch on the bottom of the fruit. This is caused by calcium deficiency in the developing fruit, almost always triggered by inconsistent watering rather than a lack of calcium in the soil. Fix it by watering regularly and deeply, and mulching to maintain even soil moisture. Adding lime or gypsum before planting can also help.
Fruit fly
A serious pest in South East Queensland, Northern NSW, and tropical regions. Female flies lay eggs inside ripening fruit, and the larvae destroy it from the inside. Use exclusion bags or fine mesh netting over individual trusses. Protein bait traps can reduce fly numbers. Pick up and dispose of all fallen fruit promptly.
Leaf curl
Tomato leaves often curl upward in hot weather or after heavy pruning. This is usually a stress response and not a disease. The plant will recover on its own as conditions improve. Severe curling with yellowing, stunting, or distorted new growth may indicate tomato yellow leaf curl virus, which is spread by whitefly. Remove and destroy affected plants.
Early blight
Brown spots with concentric rings on lower leaves, spreading upward. Caused by a fungal pathogen that thrives in warm, humid conditions. Remove affected leaves immediately and improve air circulation around plants. Avoid overhead watering. Mulch to prevent soil splashing onto lower leaves. Rotate your tomato planting spot each year.
Track Your Tomato Growing
Add tomatoes to your garden in the Planting Season app and get reminders for sowing, transplanting, feeding, and harvest time.
Open the App →Frequently Asked Questions
When should I plant tomatoes in Australia?
Planting time depends on your region. In cool-temperate areas (Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra), transplant seedlings outdoors from mid-October to December. In subtropical regions (Brisbane, Northern NSW), plant from August to March. Tropical gardeners (Darwin, Far North QLD) can plant through the dry season from April to August.
How long do tomatoes take to grow?
Most tomato varieties take 8 to 12 weeks from transplanting to first harvest. Cherry types like Tommy Toe are fastest at around 8 weeks. Large beefsteak varieties like Mortgage Lifter need 10 to 12 weeks. Add 6 to 8 weeks if starting from seed indoors.
Why are my tomato leaves curling?
Leaf curl in tomatoes is usually caused by heat stress, inconsistent watering, or heavy pruning. It is rarely a serious problem and the plant often recovers on its own. Severe curling with yellowing or distorted new growth may indicate a virus, in which case remove the affected plant.
How do I prevent blossom end rot?
Blossom end rot is caused by calcium deficiency, almost always triggered by inconsistent watering rather than a lack of calcium in the soil. Water deeply and regularly, mulch to maintain even soil moisture, and avoid letting plants dry out between waterings. Adding lime or gypsum to the soil before planting can also help.
See also: Tomato in the Plant Library
