July keeps last month's frost-tender trio going — tomato, capsicum and eggplant are all still inside their sowing window, started indoors last month for an August–October transplant — and adds three newcomers of its own: basil, coriander and onion.

Quick Answer: What to Sow Now

Nine crops are open for sowing in the garden this July: basil, capsicum, coriander, eggplant, lemon, mandarin, onion, orange and tomato.

Still Going: Tomato, Capsicum and Eggplant

All three continue in trays through this month and into September, transplanting out August–October once frost risk has passed. Nothing changes about how they're handled from last month — this is simply still inside the window, not a fresh decision point. If you didn't get seed in during June, July is still a genuinely good time to start; the window doesn't close until September, and eggplant in particular benefits from every extra week of warm-season growth it can get before transplanting, since it needs the longest run of the three to fruit well.

Checking on trays sown last month is worth doing this week if you haven't already — seedlings started back in June should be a few centimetres tall by now, and it's easier to catch a slow or leggy tray early than to notice it's failed only once August's transplant window arrives.

New This Month: Basil, Coriander and Onion

Basil joins the sowing list from July, running through to December, though it stays under cover until September's transplant window — it's frost-tender, same as this month's trio above. Two cultivars are sourced: Cinnamon (Kings Seeds NZ) and Genovese (Koanga Institute), the latter transplanted at 30cm diagonal spacing once ground temperature reaches 15°C.

Coriander opens its sowing window this month too, running through to November — sown now specifically to avoid the bolting that warmer months bring. NZH (Koanga Institute) and Picante (Kings Seeds NZ) are both sourced cultivars for this zone.

Onion is the least glamorous of the three but genuinely long-season: this July–September sowing runs roughly 160–200 days to a January–March harvest, and avoiding high-nitrogen soil matters more here than for most crops, since it delays bulbing. Direct sow rather than raising in trays, and think of it as a long-haul crop you plant now and mostly leave alone until summer rather than one that needs regular attention through winter and spring.

Citrus, Still an Option

Lemon, mandarin and orange all remain inside their April–September planting window this month, going in as potted nursery stock. Best Lemon, Best Mandarin and Best Orange Varieties cover cultivar choice in more depth than fits here.

Also Harvestable This Month

July closes out the harvest window for both feijoa (March–July) and yacon (April–July) — last call for either if you haven't already lifted them. Beetroot, carrot, Jerusalem artichoke, lime, silverbeet and tamarillo are all still cropping too.

Timing Notes for Sub-Tropical Gardens

July sits mid-way through this zone's May–September frost window — the same reason capsicum, eggplant, tomato and now basil all stay under cover rather than going outside yet. That's a different picture to how this month reads once frost stops being the constraint: onion and coriander are both direct-sown straight into the ground this month regardless, since neither is frost-tender, and their timing is driven by day length and bolting risk rather than by cold at all.

This article covers sourced sowing and harvest data across the whole zone rather than one location — a genuine default, not a promise that every garden inside this zone experiences July identically. For Auckland-specific winter garden detail — drainage, soil pH, wet-weather bed management, and how mild the city's own frost risk actually runs suburb to suburb — see What to Plant in Auckland in July.

Recommended Cultivars

  • Basil — Cinnamon (Kings Seeds NZ), Genovese (Koanga Institute)
  • Coriander — NZH, Picante (Koanga Institute, Kings Seeds NZ)
  • Tomato — Albenga Oxheart (Kings Seeds NZ), Alma (Koanga Institute)

Capsicum, eggplant, lemon, mandarin, onion and orange don't have an approved cultivar pick sourced for this zone yet.

Know your zone? Explore the full NZ Sub-Tropical Planting Calendar for month-by-month sowing and harvest timing.