When to plant tomatoes in Orange: 20 October – 21 February

In Orange, tomato: sow for seedlings from 8 August to 31 December; plant into a greenhouse from 29 September to 21 February; plant out into open ground from 20 October to 21 February. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include The Rural Centre Pty Ltd (farm supply, 1 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Orange: soil, season and weather

In Orange the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 24 August, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 20 October, 57 days later.

Last spring frost	24 August
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	20 October, 57 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	29 September – 21 February; September outside: 6.2 °C at night, 15.4 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	12 June, 236 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	29 December – 1 May
Days left for picking	166
Daylight	11:18 on 29 August, 13:03 on 20 October
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, February, has 6 rainy days

Tomato in Orange: care after planting

Planted on 20 October: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

20 October — feed: balanced (NPK)
17 November — 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 Orange during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in January (27.5 °C). Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: May (14.3 °C) and June (10.9 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in February–June and October–December (4.1–15.2 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
October	19	9.1	84	9	12:53
November	22	11.4	93	10	13:50
December	25.6	14.1	81	8	14:20
January	27.5	16.6	68	10	14:07
February	26.1	15.2	52	6	13:17
March	23.8	13.8	63	9	12:20
April	19.2	10.1	61	6	11:17
May	14.3	6.6	54	7	10:25
June	10.9	4.1	71	10	9:58

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Orange, Dubbo is 29 days earlier and Ballarat 25 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Dubbo	123 km	21 September – 27 February	29 days earlier
Canberra	222 km	2 November – 7 February	13 days later
Albury	369 km	16 October – 28 February	4 days earlier
Bendigo	585 km	21 October – 27 February	1 day later
Melbourne	628 km	21 October – 4 March	1 day later
Ballarat	673 km	14 November – 27 February	25 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Orange

Buy plants ready to set out from 20 October to 21 February (from 29 September to 21 February for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 8 August to 31 December. Within 15 km of Orange OpenStreetMap lists 2 farm-supply shops (collected 20 October 2026).

The Rural Centre Pty Ltd — farm supply
Lords Place 154-158, 2800 · 1 km · crt.com.au
Sunnycrest Orchards Pty Ltd — farm supply
8 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