Tomato
📍 ZambiaClick a numbered marker on the plant to explore each life-cycle stage — or read the key dates on the right.
Roots & seed establish first. Sow in at .
Leaves & stem drive the vegetative stage over .
Flowering falls mid-cycle between sowing () and harvest (). Keep stress low here.
Fruit/grain matures — harvest around .
Where Tomato grows in Zambia
Region I
Covering the valley areas of the Zambezi and Luangwa River systems mostly in the southern parts of Western and Southern Provinces, north-western parts of Eastern Province, as well as southern and eastern parts of Lusaka Province. The region is characterized by low rainfall of 600-800mm per annum, frequent drought spells and risk of floods, high mean annual temperatures above 30 degrees Celcius and a short growing season of 80-100 days for rainfed crops. The region is predominated by Arenosols, Lithosol-Cambisols and Cambisol-Luvisol soil types with patches of Acrisols and Fluvisol-Vertisols. Mopane woodlands and Termitaria are the main vegetation types covering the region.
Region III
Covering the northern half of Zambia. The region is characterized by mean annual rainfall of 1000-1500mm, a long crop growing season of 130-150 days, high humidity during the rainy season, moderate mean annual temperatures of around 26-28 degrees Celcius, and highly leached Ferralsols, Lithosol-Ferralsols, Acrisols, Lithosol-Cambisol and Arenosols bearing strong acidity and severe aluminium toxicity and pockets of Gleysols. The vegetation types found in AER III are Miombo woodlands, Montane forests, Swamp forests, Riparian forests, Kalahari woodlands, Grassland and Terminalia.
Region IIa
Covering the Sandveld plateau areas of Eastern, Central and Southern Zambia, the region is characterized by a mean annual rainfall of 800-1000mm, a growing season of 80-130 days, moderate mean maximum temperatures of around 28 degrees Celcius and relatively fertile soils that are predominated by Fluvisols-Vertisols, Acrisols, Luvisol-Phaeozem, Gleysols and Vertisols. The dry Miombo woodlands, Savanna woodlands and Grasslands are the main vegetation types found in AER IIa.
Looking for another crop? Browse the full Zambia crop calendar or the Tomato guide for other countries.