Growing Tomato

Lycopersicon esculentum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
              S S S S S
T T               T T T
P                 P P P

(Best months for growing Tomato in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 35°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 40 - 60 cm apart
  • Harvest in 8-17 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Asparagus, Chervil,Carrot, Celery, Chives, Parsley, Marigold, Basil
  • Avoid growing close to: Rosemary, Potatoes, Fennel, Cucumber

Your comments and tips

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24 Aug 11, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I don't prune tomatoes at all. Diggers Club did a comparison of pruned vs unpruned and found no difference in fruit production.
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13 Jun 11, Les Telfer (Australia - tropical climate)
My Tomatoes Flowered Then turn black and drop off ?
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19 Mar 11, THOMAS (Australia - temperate climate)
Forget the Triffids. Cherry tomatoes will engulf the world. Not one corner of my 3 acres has escaped being colonised this year & I only had them in my vegetable patch last year. Harvesting bucket loads & making sauce but have to beat the field mice to them. Thomas
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17 Mar 11, Elisha (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have planted some tomato plants about 3 weeks ago in a supposed to be organic soil I got trucked in. Which as mill mud a sugar cane by product, and other goodies in it. I mixed dolomite, dynmatic lifter in the soil then planted. I am using sugar cane mulch and have liquid fertislied them with seasol and healthy earth. My tomatoes have now started to wilt. I don't believe its a fungus or a disease as when I cut the stems it looks healthy and green. I had 10 plants and now only have around 4 standing strong. Any suggestions what is going on? Oh I did fertilise them just before wilting as we have had a heap of rain recently with potash and blood and bone. Have I maybe over feed them. I didn't think that was possible.
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17 Mar 11, Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Elisha, your seedlings might have 'damping off' disease. This is caused by too much water staying round the roots allowing a fungus to grow on the roots. If the plants don't improve in a day or so, it would be best to remove them and start again. Make sure that your soil is well drained.
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22 Aug 11, Deborah (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Damping off can be avoided by spraying seedlings every few days with chamomile tea, which kills the fungus which causes the damage. Also move mulch back a bit from the stem of the seedling to improve ventilation.
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04 Mar 11, KEVIN HERON (Australia - temperate climate)
HI COL, YOU HAVE HAD A LOT OF RAIN? DO YOU FERTILIZE / WHAT TYPE OF TOMATO ARE YOU GROWING REGARDS KEV
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01 Mar 11, Col (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
In my current crop of tomatoes which are about 8 weeks old and 400mm high, three of the fifteen have wilted badly and are not recovering after thhee days. They are under 50% shade cloth due to the cureent hot weather and are watered at ground level every 36 hours. I have planted at the other end of the garden from last year, about 2.4 metres away. Any suggestions please! Col
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17 Nov 11, Deborah (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I agree, not enough water. Early morning and late afternoon.
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16 Mar 11, jade (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
mine are going great, not under any shade, in bris. But get watered at least twice a day and also any time it rains - So much rain, but with good drainage I don't think it can be overdone.
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Further to my posts below. I have found this which I believe is the problem with my bunchy curly leaves on cherry tomatoes. It is called -Tomato yellow leaf curl virus. TYLCV. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Qld In March 2006, tomato leaf curl disease was found in cherry tomato crops in the south and west periphery of Brisbane. The disease has been found in many crops, with infection levels ranging from 5 to 100 per cent of plants. Losses in severely affected crops have been very high and the disease is a major threat to tomato production. In April 2006, infected plants were also found around Bundaberg. By June 2007, the virus was present in the Lockyer Valley, Fassifern Valley, Esk, Caboolture and Redlands areas. Since 2009 it has become a serious production constraint around Bundaberg. In February 2011, it was found in backyard tomato plants in Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands. Tomato leaf curl disease is caused by viruses in the Geminivirus family of plant viruses, and is spread by whiteflies. The virus causing this disease is tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). This virus is distinct from tomato leaf curl Australia virus (TLCV), which occurs in the Northern Territory and at several locations on Cape York Peninsula. Silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Biotype B) was first recorded in Australia in 1994, it is now a widespread pest in Queensland and Western Australia and could become a major pest in most irrigated agricultural areas of Australia. Silverleaf whitefly (SLW) is also known as poinsettia or sweetpotato whitefly and in USA literature it is now referred to as Bemisia argentifolii. SLW has a wide host range (over 500 species) of crops and weeds, and is difficult to control as it has developed resistance to conventional insecticides. Biotype Q was discovered recently in Queensland. There is also an Australian native species. These three biotypes are indistinquishable in the field.

- Mike

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