Canberra tomatoes go in after Melbourne Cup Day, and not before

In Canberra, tomatoes go in after Melbourne Cup Day, the first Tuesday in November. It’s a local rule that works. The last frost is usually in late October, from mid-October in the inner suburbs to early November in Tuggeranong, and Cup Day gives you a safe margin.

You can keep planting until mid-December. Sow seed indoors from early September to early October, or buy seedlings in late October.

Sowing

1. Sow seed 0.5 cm deep in seed-raising mix in early to mid-September.
2. Keep the pots warm, around 20 to 25 °C. A heat mat or a warm sunny window inside works.
3. Once the seedlings are up, give them as much light as possible.
4. Pot them on into 9 cm pots when they have their first true leaves, burying the stem up to the seed leaves.

From mid-October, put them outside during the day in a sheltered spot, and bring them in at night. By November they’re hardened off and ready.

Planting out

1. Choose your sunniest bed, with some shelter from hot afternoon wind.
2. Dig in compost and well-rotted manure.
3. Put a stake or cage in first.
4. Plant deep, burying the stem up to the top few leaves.
5. Space plants about 45 cm apart, in rows 60 cm apart.
6. Water in well.

Basil, French marigolds and carrots make good neighbours. Keep tomatoes away from potatoes and sweet corn.

A hot, dry summer

Canberra’s summers are hot and dry, which tomatoes love above the ground and hate below it.

• Water deeply two or three times a week, more in a heatwave. A drip line on a timer is the easiest way to keep it even.
• Mulch with straw or sugar cane once the soil has warmed in late November.
• Shade in a heatwave. Above about 35 °C, flowers drop without setting fruit. A shade cloth over the hottest part of the day helps.
• Feed every week or two with a tomato food once fruit has set.

Uneven watering is the main cause of blossom end rot, the black, sunken patch on the bottom of the fruit.

Picking

The first fruit ripens about 55 to 85 days after planting out, so from late January for a Cup Day planting. Plants keep cropping through February and March. When the nights cool in late March, pick off new flowers so the plant ripens what’s already there. Pick everything before the first frost in April, and ripen green fruit indoors.

Common problems

Frost damage. Blackened leaves after a cold night. Plant later next year, or protect early plants.

Blossom end rot. Water steadily and mulch.

Sunscald. Pale, papery patches on fruit exposed to the afternoon sun. Leave enough leaves to shade the fruit.

Birds. Currawongs and other birds peck ripening fruit. Net plants or pick fruit as it colours.

Choose Canberra on the tomato page for the full calendar, and see what to plant in October for what else to sow now.