When to plant eggplants in Cambridge: 17 June – 4 August

In Cambridge, eggplant: sow for seedlings from 28 March to 5 June; plant into a greenhouse from 27 May to 4 August; plant out into open ground from 17 June to 4 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Hackers Fruit Farm Shop (farm shop, 7 km) and Rosegate Farm (farm shop, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Eggplant in Cambridge: soil, season and weather

In Cambridge the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 3 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the eggplant card — only around 17 June, 75 days later.

Last spring frost	3 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	17 June, 75 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	27 May – 4 August; May outside: 8.2 °C at night, 17.1 °C by day; card 21–29 °C
First autumn frost	24 November, 160 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	26 August – 13 October
Days left for picking	90
Daylight	14:04 on 18 April, 16:45 on 17 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

The same dates in Cambridge hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Zucchini, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Eggplant in Cambridge: care after planting

Planted on 17 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

17 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
15 July — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of eggplant to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Cambridge during the eggplant season

No month of the season averages above the eggplant card's 21–29 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 22.5 °C. Months that stay below 21 °C even by day on average: June and September–November (10.6–20.6 °C). Nights average below 21 °C in every month of the season, from 4.9 °C to 13.8 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	20.6	11.7	57	10	16:44
July	22.5	13.8	66	12	16:19
August	22.5	13.6	50	10	14:44
September	19.8	11.4	62	10	12:43
October	15.3	8.6	71	11	10:43
November	10.6	4.9	60	11	8:49

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Eggplant in nearby cities

Around Cambridge, London is 5 days earlier and Norwich 10 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Ipswich	73 km	14 June – 9 August	3 days earlier
London	79 km	12 June – 3 August	5 days earlier
Norwich	93 km	27 June – 8 August	10 days later
Leicester	98 km	21 June – 30 July	4 days later
Oxford	107 km	23 June – 3 August	6 days later
Coventry	113 km	21 June – 28 July	4 days later

Where to buy eggplant plants and seeds near Cambridge

Buy plants ready to set out from 17 June to 4 August (from 27 May to 4 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 28 March to 5 June. Within 15 km of Cambridge OpenStreetMap lists 11 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 2 markets and 7 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Rosegate Farm — farm shop
Thu–Sat 08:30–13:00 · 13 km
Hackers Fruit Farm Shop — farm shop
Huntingdon Road, CB23 8HD · 7 km
Scotsdales Garden Centre — garden centre
4 km
Botanic Garden Shop — garden centre
1 km

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Questions