Tomato Seeds

Tomatoes are a warm-season favourite, bursting with flavour and colour. Choose from a range of colours & sizes. We have sweet cherry types to rich slicing or saucing varieties, there’s a tomato for every garden. They thrive in full sun and reward you with abundant, juicy harvests all summer long.

Browse our Tomato Seeds

Growing Notes

How to Grow Tomato

The essential guide to growing tomato from seed; with notes on germination, cultivation, harvest and even kitchen uses.

A quick guide to tomato types & how to use them:

Determinate (“bush”) – compact plants that set most fruit in one flush. Great for back-yard growers who want a glut for bottling, sauces or passata; mild, balanced flavour.
Indeterminate (“vining”) – lanky plants that fruit continuously until frost. Choose for salads, sandwiches and snacking when you want a long harvest of full-flavoured fruit. Need staking/support.
Semi-determinate – midway in height and harvest window; ideal for small trellises and mixed kitchen use.
Parthenocarpic/seedless – set fruit even in cool, wet or very hot spells; handy in short seasons or greenhouses. Flavour similar to parent line, seeds absent or tiny. For example 'Legend'.
Cherry & grape – bite-sized bursts of sweetness for salads, lunchboxes and roasting whole.
Paste/Roma – dense flesh, low juice; best for sauces, sun-drying and pizza toppings.
Beefsteak & heirloom slicers – big, juicy, often multicoloured; showcase fresh in burgers and caprese, or slow-roast for rich umami.

Seeds per gram: 250 – 350 seeds

Germination temperature: 21 – 27 °C; sprout in 7-12 days when kept warm and moist.

Feed requirements:

Moderate overall – mix 4-6 litres/m2 of compost plus a handful (50 g) of balanced organic fertiliser into planting holes, then side-dress with a high-potash feed as first trusses set.
Ensure adequate calcium (lime, gypsum or crushed eggshell) to prevent blossom-end rot.

Growing Notes:

Sowing Direct:

This is for warmer regions where the soil temperature is above 18°C and nights stay above 18°C.
Sow 4-6 seeds directly in the garden 5-8 mm deep using the spacings below.
Keep soil moist.
A spell of cooler weather will slow germination.
Thin to strongest seedling once there are 4 true leaves.

Germination & Raising Seedlings:

Sow indoors 6–8 weeks before the last frost. Use a fine seed-raising mix, cover seed 5-8 mm deep.
Maintain 21-24 °C bottom heat until germination, then grow on at 18 – 20 °C in bright light to avoid legginess.
Pot up to 7 cm pots at first true-leaf stage; feed fortnightly with dilute seaweed or fish emulsion.

Transplanting & Spacing:

Plant out after all frost danger when night minima stay above 10 °C. Harden seedlings for a week outdoors first.

Determinate & dwarf: space 45 – 60 cm apart.
Indeterminate/semi-determinate: 60 – 90 cm apart with strong stakes, trellis or cages 1.8 – 2 m tall.
Set seedlings deeply, burying the stem up to the top two leaf sets – buried stems root readily and anchor plants.

Growing On:

Water deeply at soil level. Mulch thickly to keep moisture even and reduce splitting.
Prune indeterminates to one or two leaders, removing side-shoots weekly for larger, earlier fruit and better airflow. Determinates need little pruning.
Support heavy trusses with soft ties; remove lower leaves once fruit has set to improve air movement and reduce blight risk.

Common Problems & Remedies:

Aphids, whitefly – spray with insecticidal soap, encourage ladybirds.
Fruit fly (QLD & NT) – use exclusion bags or 2 mm netting once fruit is pea-size, and hang protein traps.
Early & late blight, leaf spot – rotate crops 3–4 years, water at root zone, apply copper or potassium bicarbonate at first sign.
Blossom-end rot – keep soil evenly moist and ensure calcium; avoid excessive nitrogen.
Splitting – maintain steady watering, pick just before heavy rain, avoid rough handling of cold seedlings.

Harvesting & Storage:

Pick when fruit shows varietal colour and yields slightly to a gentle squeeze.
- If birds or pests are a problem as fruits ripen harvest a little early and let ripen further in the kitchen.
Twist or clip fruit from the vine; leave calyx attached to slow dehydration.
Store at 15–20 °C out of direct sun for best flavour. Refrigerate only fully ripe fruit you cannot use within two days.
Green fruit can ripen indoors in a single layer at 18 °C, or use for chutney and pickles.

Home-grown tomatoes reward you with unmatched sweetness and aroma – whether you bottle a year’s supply of Roma sauce or snack on sun-warmed cherries straight off the vine, every gardener’s first bite is summer captured in a seed.