When is it actually safe to plant tomatoes?
Victorians plant tomatoes on Melbourne Cup Day, the first Tuesday in November. We checked that rule against ten years of daily weather in 5 Australian cities: when it is warm enough for tomato seedlings, when the last frost is safely past, and whether there is time for the fruit to ripen before autumn.
| City | Plant out tomatoes | Melbourne Cup Day (3 Nov)? | Frost |
|---|---|---|---|
| MelbourneVictoria | 5 Oct – 24 Jan | Earlier is fine Yes — and you could have started from early October | occasional (3 winters in 10) |
| AdelaideSouth Australia | 19 Sep – 9 Feb | Earlier is fine Yes — and you could have started from mid September | rare |
| CanberraAustralian Capital Territory | 19 Oct – 12 Jan | Cup Day Yes — Cup Day is about right | usually over by late September, safe after late September |
| DarwinNorthern Territory | — | Under cover Too cool to ripen outdoors — grow in a greenhouse or against a warm wall | rare |
| Sunshine CoastQueensland | 18 May – 31 Mar | Earlier is fine Yes — and you could have started from mid May | rare |
Some cities are missing because climate data was unavailable — try again later.
How it is worked out: daily minimum and maximum temperatures 2016–2025 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis) at each city centre. Seedlings go out when the average temperature is at least 13.5 °C, after the date by which the last frost is over in 4 years out of 5, and only if they have about 75 days to crop before autumn cools below 16.5 °C. Gardens in frost hollows or up a hill start later; a warm, sheltered wall or a greenhouse starts earlier.
Your garden is not the city centre
Put a pin on your garden and Ouleo works out your own frost dates and tomato window — then reminds you on your days off.