When to plant tomatoes in Alice Springs: 12 July – 14 February

In Alice Springs, tomato: sow for seedlings from 30 April to 24 December; plant into a greenhouse from 21 June to 14 February; plant out into open ground from 12 July to 14 February.

Tomato in Alice Springs: soil, season and weather

In Alice Springs the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 4 July, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 12 July, 8 days later.

Last spring frost	4 July
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	12 July, 8 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	21 June – 14 February; June outside: 7 °C at night, 19.5 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	5 June, 329 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	20 September – 24 April
Days left for picking	259
Daylight	10:54 on 21 May, 10:46 on 12 July
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, July, has 1 rainy day

Tomato in Alice Springs: care after planting

Planted on 12 July: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

12 July — feed: balanced (NPK)
9 August — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of tomato to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Alice Springs during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in September–April (27.3–36.1 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in April–September (6.7–15.1 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
July	20.4	6.7	2	1	10:48
August	23.4	9.1	5	1	11:17
September	27.3	12.9	14	3	11:56
October	31.7	17.2	13	2	12:37
November	33	19.5	41	6	13:15
December	35.5	22.3	38	5	13:35
January	36.1	23.5	57	6	13:26
February	35.5	22.1	15	2	12:53
March	33.3	20.4	48	5	12:15
April	28.6	15.1	5	1	11:33
May	22.6	9.8	21	1	10:59
June	19.5	7	10	2	10:41

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant tomato later than Alice Springs; the closest date is in Dubbo, 71 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Dubbo	1,729 km	21 September – 27 February	71 days later
Bendigo	1,761 km	21 October – 27 February	101 days later
Ballarat	1,811 km	14 November – 27 February	125 days later
Orange	1,827 km	20 October – 21 February	100 days later
Albury	1,860 km	16 October – 28 February	96 days later
Geelong	1,890 km	from 22 October	102 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Alice Springs

Buy plants ready to set out from 12 July to 14 February (from 21 June to 14 February for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 30 April to 24 December. Within 15 km of Alice Springs OpenStreetMap lists 1 garden centre (collected 28 October 2026).

Alice Springs Nursery — garden centre
6 km

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Questions