In Melbourne the tradition is that you plant tomatoes on Cup Day. My dad did it, my grand father, probably his before that and so on. For the uninitiated Cup Day is the first Tuesday in November and is a public holiday celebrating the running of the Melbourne Cup horse race. It is usually honoured by BBQs, visits to the TAB (betting shop) and tomato planting. I however have broken with tradition. I planted out the first of my tomato seedlings on Sunday – a full month early! I’ve done it before too – planted out my tomatoes early (I have probably broken any number of traditions over the years as well but that is another story….) and it didn’t end badly at all. Actually I think climate change may mean that we rethink when we plant things more generally. Fortunately there is currently discussion about having a public holiday for the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) grand final which conveniently falls on the last Saturday of Sept or first in October depending on the year. If this happens then the tradition of planting on a sporting related public holiday could be maintained which can only be a good thing surely….
Anyway my seedlings looked big enough and had been hardened off plus we’d just had loads of rain, so I went ahead and planted the first four (I also planted a store bought Tommy Toe donated by my next door neighbour about a fortnight ago but as I didn’t grow it from seed I’m not as interested in its progress – although I will still eat the produce….), Four was all I currently have space for.
From the seeds I sowed in July (Growing Tomatoes in Melbourne – Part 1) I planted a Rouge DeMarmande, a Sweet F1 Hybrid Cherry, Black Krim and A Baby Red Pear. All grow pretty big so I put in three stakes per plant to train their stalks up. The stakes are about 30cm apart with roughly 60cm between plants.
I arranged the pots next to stakes, I want to grow the cherrys where they can be easily reached by the kids, whereas the larger varieties are going in the middle of the bed where Mr almost 2 is less likely to pick them, take a bite and them throw them on the ground……
I dig holes deeper than I would normally to plant as I want to submerge a fair bit of the stalk so that it will grow roots and both give the plant more support and provide a stronger root structure. Then the kids plant them, with me holding my breath as Mr almost 2 attempts to crush plant as he removes it from the pot. The plant survives (I hope!).
Amazingly I remember to label them and water them in.
My tomatoes that I grew from seed are still so tiny. I planted them in August (I think) so I’ll know to do it earlier for next year.
I wouldn’t worry too much – you should still be able to plant them by cup day…. incidently I don’t know what you planted them in but if it was seed raising mix and their growth seems to have stalled it’ll probably be because they need a feed.
Well, I didn’t plant mine till the middle of August either. Next year I will be starting earlier!
I like starting them in July but it doesn’t always work, last year we had a few really cold nights and it did send their growth back quite a bit – this year its been good though.
I wish I had space to grow my tomatoes in the soil, but unfortunately I haven’t so I have to grow them in pots, where providing support is less easy. Your 3-stake system looks as if it will be very strong.
Continuing the racing theme, perhaps you guys ought to place bets on when the first tomato will ripen (assuming you start on Cup day).
When I grow them in pots I try and position them next to my carport supports and then when they get too big for the stakes I can run them up them. I’m hoping for a December ripening but I suspect that is way too ambitious…..
Oh dear, I don’t think my little guys are ever going to match yours, though I didn’t get mine in the trays until September – oops. I’ve given them a feed as suggested so hopefully they will kick into second gear and start getting bigger now. Surely by Cup Day they’ll be looking better. I think last year I planted out seedlings at the end of September (thinking it was Show Day not Cup Day to plant tomatoes, silly me), and I had the biggest crop I’ve ever had, enough for sauce, chutney and green tomato pickles as well as the daily salad. But then I cheated and bought the seedlings rather than growing from seeds, so perhaps it doesn’t count at all.
Of course it counts – last year I bought one seedling which subsequently died – so either method can be fraught. The others I grew from seed but I certainly didn’t get enough for chutney etc so you did really well!!!! Personally I don’t think planting on Show Day is that silly particularly if your garden is reasonably sheltered.
Wow looks like you will be harvesting tomatoes during Christmas by looking at the size of your seedlings.
Hi Liz, Those little seedlings have grown into stong little plants! great idea planting the cherry tomatoes close to the front as your little helpers look very keen!!
Out my way lots of cold,windy, wet weather(small bursts of sunshine)and no frosts!!! things are looking good and small self sown seedlings of tomatoes are popping up every where.
I have sown a selection of tomatoe seeds direct into the garden so will be interesting to see what will grow.For mature seedlings i’m off to my local organic veggie farmer to
choose some of his as last years all produced beautifully. Looking forward to following the progress of your favorite fruit!!! Happy Gardening!!
Thanks Andrea. The plants have flowers on now so I am feeling hopeful at the moment. We could do with the weather warming up a bit though….I’ll be interested to hear how Mortgage Lifter does.
So glad to have found this site! My husband passed away suddenly last year and he was the tomatoe grower, while I just liked to eat them, but I am now trying my first lot on my own. Have to grow them in pots and am looking after them like babies! It is great to have information like yours dealing with local Melbourne conditions. Good luck to all and keep the information flowing. Love it!
Thanks for commenting Jenny, I really appreciate the feedback! I hope all goes well with the tomatoes. they can be both the most rewarding and most frustrating of crops.
I’m new to Melbourne (inner south east), having moved from Perth, WA, so this site is great for me trying to figure out when to plant out my seed-grown ‘Sweet Bite’ cherry tomato seedling. It’s about 12″ above the level of the pot so once I’ve hardened it off, I’ll take a chance and plant it in the ground in the sheltered courtyard.
Generally, I must admit I’ve been challenged by the low light levels in Melbourne’s winter and the slow growth, such a contrast to Perth, but here’s hoping for quick healthy growth during the summer!
Having gardened in the UK previously I love Melbourne’s winter conditions but I guess compared with Perth they must be challenging. Hopefully our cooler summers will make up for your winter issues.
I am thinking of planting two more tomato plants in my vegie patch.
Am worried it might be a bit late in the season. What do you think?
I am south east of melb.
Hi Ria, You could give it a try. It is pretty late though. If you do attempt it I would do it with plants that are fairly large, and ideally flowering. I would also check the time to fruiting for the variety you are going to plant. For example I would favour Rouge De marmande over Grosse Lisse as it sets fruit quicker and tends to do better in slightly cooler conditions. The biggest issue with planting tomatoes now is getting them to set and ripen before it gets cold. Does it frost where you are? If it does you will probably need the first frost to be about 4 months away otherwise you might struggle to get any but the very quickest varieties to do much at all. Personally I’m planting things like bok choi, radishes, carrots, spring onions etc at the moment rather than tomatoes but if you do decide to give it a try I would love to know how get on. Liz
Hi, Does it matter if you plant 4 or 5 different varieties in the same area/4’x4′ raised garden bed? I have 2 Father Tom, 2 Black Russian , 1 Grosse Lisse and 2 Heirloom plants. I read that the Heirlooms might be affected, is that right? I’m in Melbourne Dandenong Ranges and I’m about to plant the 2 Heirlooms today.
thanks
Mike
It depends what you mean by affected, tomatoes can cross so if you plan to save seed then there is the possibility the plants will cross with each other and so subsequent plants may differ from the parents and under some definitions would no longer be ‘heirloom’ (ie an old variety) as a result. Otherwise your only issue is ensuring that all the plants have enough room to grow. Incidentally your use of the word ‘heirloom’ is interesting – what variety are the heirlooms? Are they heirlooms for your family? I’m not familiar with Father Tom but I think you could probably describe both Black Russian and Grosse Lisse as ‘heirloom’ varieties depending on how you define it.
Hi I planted my tomatoes in November from seedlings. The plant themselves are going out of control with plenty of fruit on them but the only problem is they are not rippening and turning red yet. should I be doing something else.
hi Sharon
never seen this page before but it is the humidity that is stopping your tomato’s from getting ripe. Hang in there as they will ripen just taking a lot longer.
Mark
i think this adds to your post, i’m in melbourne, i did exactly this 10 days ago and i now have @30 , 3-4cm seedlings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLfpeUtyDII
the tomato i used was sooooooooo overripe it had little bits of mold on it !! so it was definately BIN READY but i thought i’d give it ago.
its 5th of march so they probably won’t survive but i do know what to do grand final day 🙂
i am going to try to build a little hothouse and see how far i can get.
tim
My tomatoes are green and it’s mid January. What should I do? Are they unlikely to turn red? If so should I pick them and will they ripen in a brown paper bag?
Here it is February 1st, 2018 and my tomatoes were planted last October, (Croydon). Well we had a cool spring and early summer and most erratic weather during January, from very cool to humid very hot weather and now back to cool. Are my tomatoes ever going to ripen?