Planting guide

When to plant tomatillo

Husk-wrapped green fruit for salsa verde; two plants are needed to set fruit. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Jan.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 11–14 wks
Spacing: 60 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means tomatillo can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mildura	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wellington	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant tomatillo

Start seed indoors 6 weeks ahead.
Plant two or more together for pollination.
Cage or stake the sprawling plants.
Pick when the fruit fills and splits the husk.

Tomatillo varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Toma Verde Classicheavy-cropper · 11–14 wksGreen fruit in papery husks
Verde Puebla Classicheirloom · 11–14 wksMexican heirloom, classic salsa verde
Purple Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksPurple-tinged fruit, sweeter

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Basil, Carrot, Marigold

Tomatillo by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Cucumber · Zucchini

Not sure tomatillo is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now