When to plant eggplants in Essen: 3 June – 1 August

In Essen, eggplant: sow for seedlings from 14 March to 2 June; plant into a greenhouse from 13 May to 1 August; plant out into open ground from 3 June to 1 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Raiffeisenmarkt (farm supply, 10 km) and Blumen Marissen (garden centre, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Eggplant in Essen: soil, season and weather

In Essen the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 6 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the eggplant card — only around 3 June, 58 days later.

Last spring frost	6 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	3 June, 58 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	13 May – 1 August; May outside: 9 °C at night, 19 °C by day; card 21–29 °C
First autumn frost	21 November, 171 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	12 August – 10 October
Days left for picking	101
Daylight	13:07 on 4 April, 16:21 on 3 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 13 rainy days

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

Eggplant in Essen: care after planting

Planted on 3 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

3 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
1 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 Essen during the eggplant season

No month of the season averages above the eggplant card's 21–29 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 24.1 °C. Months that stay below 21 °C even by day on average: September (20.4 °C), October (15.5 °C) and November (9.7 °C). Nights average below 21 °C in every month of the season, from 4.3 °C to 14.7 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	23.2	13.5	72	11	16:36
July	23.7	14.4	73	13	16:12
August	24.1	14.7	66	13	14:39
September	20.4	11.8	80	11	12:42
October	15.5	9.1	87	14	10:45
November	9.7	4.3	69	13	8:54

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Eggplant in nearby cities

Around Essen, Münster is 2 days earlier and Dortmund 2 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bochum	15 km	3 June – 31 July	same day
Duisburg	18 km	3 June – 2 August	same day
Düsseldorf	30 km	3 June – 1 August	same day
Dortmund	32 km	5 June – 27 July	2 days later
Cologne	58 km	3 June – 31 July	same day
Münster	70 km	1 June – 1 August	2 days earlier

Where to buy eggplant plants and seeds near Essen

Buy plants ready to set out from 3 June to 1 August (from 13 May to 1 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 14 March to 2 June. Within 15 km of Essen OpenStreetMap lists 49 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 5 plant nurseries, 43 markets and 27 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Blumen Marissen — garden centre
Flockenfeld 97, 46049 Oberhausen · Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00; Sat 09:00–16:00; Sun 10:00–12:30 · 13 km
Steinmacher — garden centre
Hauptstraße 348, 44649 Herne · 13 km · steinmacher.de
Blumen Heinen — garden centre
Erzbergerstraße 54, 46145 Oberhausen · Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00; Sat 10:00–14:00 · 14 km
Raiffeisenmarkt — farm supply
Hansastraße 88, 44866 Bochum · Mon–Fri 09:00–19:00; Sat 09:00–14:00 · 10 km · raiffeisenruhrgebiet.de

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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