When to plant tomatoes in Timaru: 4 November – 12 February

In Timaru, tomato: sow for seedlings from 23 August to 22 December; plant into a greenhouse from 14 October to 12 February; plant out into open ground from 4 November to 12 February.

Tomato in Timaru: soil, season and weather

In Timaru the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 22 September, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 4 November, 43 days later.

Last spring frost	22 September
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	4 November, 43 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	14 October – 12 February; October outside: 7 °C at night, 16.7 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	3 June, 212 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	13 January – 22 April
Days left for picking	142
Daylight	11:39 on 13 September, 14:14 on 4 November
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, June, has 9 rainy days

Tomato in Timaru: care after planting

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

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

4 November — feed: balanced (NPK)
2 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 Timaru during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, February, averages 21.4 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: May (14.5 °C) and June (11.4 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 3.3 °C to 12.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
November	18.7	9.6	91	12	14:43
December	20.3	11.5	85	14	15:30
January	21.2	12.6	72	11	15:09
February	21.4	12.4	66	9	13:52
March	19.6	10.9	75	12	12:27
April	17.2	8	73	10	10:53
May	14.5	5.6	52	9	9:35
June	11.4	3.3	49	9	8:52

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Timaru, Christchurch is 5 days earlier and Dunedin 29 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Christchurch	147 km	30 October – 13 February	5 days earlier
Dunedin	175 km	3 December – 30 January	29 days later
Queenstown	217 km	20 November – 28 January	16 days later
Invercargill	318 km	28 November – 16 February	24 days later
Nelson	384 km	11 November – 29 February	7 days later
Blenheim	389 km	30 October – 8 February	5 days earlier

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.

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