Spring Planting: Tomatoes, Capsicums, Chillies and Potatoes Source
Markdown source•
1---2title: "Spring Planting: Tomatoes, Capsicums, Chillies and Potatoes"3date: "2026-10-17"4published: true5author: "Gavin Jackson"6tags: ["gardening", "vegetables"]7excerpt: "The summer planting is in: nine tomato varieties, capsicums, chillies, and a bag of Nicola potatoes. A week or two ahead of the frost window, which is either confidence or impatience."8---910# Spring Planting: Tomatoes, Capsicums, Chillies and Potatoes1112The winter beds are nearly cleared and the summer planting has gone in. This is the follow-up to the [winter wrap-up](/post/winter-wrap-up-three-raised-beds): what is actually growing for the 2026-27 season.13141516*The garden in mid-October. The lettuce bed on the right is still producing from winter.*1718The three raised beds carry the bulk of it, with two large pots added for the potatoes. The lettuce from winter is still going strong in one of the beds, so the new summer crops have been distributed around whatever space was left.1920Each bed got the same preparation before planting: three handfuls of blood and bone and a bag of compost forked through the soil, then sugarcane mulch over the top once the seedlings were in.2122Frost is possible here until late October, so planting frost-tender crops in mid-October is a small gamble. The seedlings had outgrown their punnets and the alternative was potting everything on for two more weeks, so the gamble is on.2324## Tomatoes2526The main event, and possibly too many of them. Nine varieties this year, all purchased as seedlings. The first six:2728<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/tomato-pots-heirlooms-2026.jpg" alt="Three potted tomato seedlings: Allan's Early Red, Tasmanian Chocolate, and Rapunzel" width="700"></p>2930- **Allan's Early Red** (Renaissance, "Modern Heirloom" range)31- **Tasmanian Chocolate** (Diggers Club heirloom, compact enough for pots, 16 weeks to harvest)32- **Rapunzel** (Floriana, known for metre-long trusses, grows to 1.8-2 m so it will need serious staking)3334<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/tomato-pots-floriana-2026.jpg" alt="Three more potted tomatoes: Midnight Snack, Honey Drop, and Trussty" width="700"></p>3536- **Midnight Snack** (a dark-skinned cherry type)37- **Honey Drop** (1.5-2 m, staking required)38- **Trussty** (supposedly good disease resistance, which will be tested)3940Plus three more: **Yellow Pear**, a red round variety, and a cherry tomato. Nothing was grown from seed this year; everything came home as seedlings.41424344*The seedlings planted out in the oval bed.*45464748## Capsicums and chillies4950<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/capsicum-punnets-2026.jpg" alt="Capsicum seedlings in punnets: Bull Horn, Sweet Mix, and Redskin" width="700"></p>5152Three capsicums: **Bull Horn**, **Sweet Mix**, and **Redskin**. All Floriana's Gourmet Gardener range, all marked "high yielding", which remains to be seen.5354Three chillies, one for each step of the heat scale: **Serrano** (mild), **Aji Yellow** (medium), and **Habanero** (hot).5556<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/chilli-pots-serrano-aji-habanero-2026.jpg" alt="Three potted chillies: Serrano (mild), Aji Yellow (medium), and Habanero (hot)" width="700"></p>57585960*Planted out. The peas climbing the fence behind them are a holdover from winter.*6162## Potatoes6364<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/nicola-seed-potatoes-2026.jpg" alt="A 1 kg bag of Nicola certified seed potatoes" width="500"></p>6566A 1 kg bag of **Nicola** certified seed potatoes for $10.35. Nicola is a late-season variety: plant 10 cm deep, 30-35 cm apart, harvest in 120-130 days. That puts harvest around February. They have gone into the large pots rather than the beds, on the theory that harvesting potatoes from a pot is a matter of tipping it over rather than digging.6768## Still going from winter6970The lettuce bed refuses to quit. Green and red leaf varieties plus a romaine, all cut-and-come-again, and still the most reliable crop in the garden.71727374## What I am watching7576- Whether the mid-October planting gets caught by a late frost. The tomatoes and capsicums would all be lost; the potatoes would shrug it off.77- Whether nine tomato plants across two beds is six too many. Spacing says yes. Optimism says no.78- The Trussty disease-resistance claim, against whatever last summer's humidity brings.79