When to plant eggplants in Dortmund: 5 June – 27 July

In Dortmund, eggplant: sow for seedlings from 16 March to 28 May; plant into a greenhouse from 15 May to 27 July; plant out into open ground from 5 June to 27 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Blumen Dresing (garden centre, 7 km) and Hiddemann Blumen (garden centre, 8 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Eggplant in Dortmund: soil, season and weather

In Dortmund the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 17 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the eggplant card — only around 5 June, 49 days later.

Last spring frost	17 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	5 June, 49 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	15 May – 27 July; May outside: 8.7 °C at night, 18.6 °C by day; card 21–29 °C
First autumn frost	16 November, 164 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	14 August – 5 October
Days left for picking	94
Daylight	13:15 on 6 April, 16:25 on 5 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 14 rainy days

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

Eggplant in Dortmund: care after planting

Planted on 5 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

5 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
3 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 Dortmund during the eggplant season

No month of the season averages above the eggplant card's 21–29 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 23.8 °C. Months that stay below 21 °C even by day on average: September (20.2 °C), October (15.3 °C) and November (9.6 °C). Nights average below 21 °C in every month of the season, from 4.2 °C to 14.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	22.9	13.3	78	12	16:36
July	23.4	14.2	78	14	16:12
August	23.8	14.6	72	13	14:40
September	20.2	11.6	72	12	12:43
October	15.3	9	77	15	10:45
November	9.6	4.2	71	14	8:54

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Eggplant in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant eggplant earlier than Dortmund; the closest date is in Bochum, 2 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bochum	18 km	3 June – 31 July	2 days earlier
Essen	32 km	3 June – 1 August	2 days earlier
Duisburg	50 km	3 June – 2 August	2 days earlier
Münster	51 km	1 June – 1 August	4 days earlier
Düsseldorf	57 km	3 June – 1 August	2 days earlier
Cologne	73 km	3 June – 31 July	2 days earlier

Where to buy eggplant plants and seeds near Dortmund

Buy plants ready to set out from 5 June to 27 July (from 15 May to 27 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 16 March to 28 May. Within 15 km of Dortmund OpenStreetMap lists 24 garden centres, 2 farm-supply shops, 3 plant nurseries, 21 markets and 35 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Blumen Dresing — garden centre
Wittbräucker Straße 463, 44267 Dortmund · 7 km · blumen-dresing.de
Hiddemann Blumen — garden centre
Hubertusstraße 6, 44577 Castrop-Rauxel · Mon–Fri 09:30–18:00; Sat 09:30–16:00; Sun closed; public holidays closed · 8 km
Blumen Risse — garden centre
Bergstraße 9, 44532 Lünen · Mon–Fri 09:00–19:00; Sat 09:00–18:00; Sun 11:00–16:00 · 11 km
Ronsiek — plant nursery
Pferdebachstraße 103a, 58454 Witten · 11 km · ronsiek.ruhr

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.

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