When to plant tomatoes in Dunedin: 3 December – 30 January

In Dunedin, tomato: sow for seedlings from 21 September to 9 December; plant into a greenhouse from 12 November to 30 January; plant out into open ground from 3 December to 30 January. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Wal's Plant Land (garden centre, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Dunedin: soil, season and weather

In Dunedin the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 26 October, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 3 December, 38 days later.

Last spring frost	26 October
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	3 December, 38 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	12 November – 30 January; November outside: 7.3 °C at night, 16.3 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	21 May, 170 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 February – 9 April
Days left for picking	100
Daylight	13:10 on 12 October, 15:29 on 3 December
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, May, has 11 rainy days

The same dates in Dunedin hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Tomato in Dunedin: care after planting

Planted on 3 December: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

3 December — feed: balanced (NPK)
31 December — 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 Dunedin during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, February, averages 18.9 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: April (14.8 °C) and May (12.3 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.6 °C to 10.1 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
December	17.5	8.9	134	20	15:42
January	18.6	10.1	113	15	15:20
February	18.9	10	87	13	13:58
March	17.5	8.9	72	13	12:28
April	14.8	6.7	74	11	10:49
May	12.3	4.6	61	11	9:26

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant tomato earlier than Dunedin; the closest date is in Invercargill, 5 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Queenstown	171 km	20 November – 28 January	13 days earlier
Timaru	175 km	4 November – 12 February	29 days earlier
Invercargill	176 km	28 November – 16 February	5 days earlier
Christchurch	310 km	30 October – 13 February	34 days earlier
Nelson	558 km	11 November – 29 February	22 days earlier
Blenheim	559 km	30 October – 8 February	34 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Dunedin

Buy plants ready to set out from 3 December to 30 January (from 12 November to 30 January for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 September to 9 December. Within 15 km of Dunedin OpenStreetMap lists 2 garden centres and 1 market (collected 20 October 2026).

Wal's Plant Land — garden centre
Bush Road 109, 9024 Mosgiel · 13 km
Otago Farmer's Market — market
Anzac Avenue 5/27, 9016 Dunedin · Sat 08:00–12:30 · 1 km · otagofarmersmarket.org.nz
Nichols Garden Center — garden centre
3 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