When to plant eggplants in Lugano: 29 May – 15 August

In Lugano, eggplant: sow for seedlings from 9 March to 16 June; plant into a greenhouse from 8 May to 15 August; plant out into open ground from 29 May to 15 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Agriturismo Alpe Rompiago (farm shop, 11 km) and Il Magnifico Borgo (farm shop, 15 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Eggplant in Lugano: soil, season and weather

In Lugano the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 11 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the eggplant card — only around 29 May, 79 days later.

Last spring frost	11 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	29 May, 79 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	8 May – 15 August; May outside: 11.4 °C at night, 20.3 °C by day; card 21–29 °C
First autumn frost	5 December, 190 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	7 August – 24 October
Days left for picking	120
Daylight	12:40 on 30 March, 15:25 on 29 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, December, has 8 rainy days

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

Eggplant in Lugano: care after planting

Planted on 29 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

29 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
26 June — 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 Lugano during the eggplant season

No month of the season averages above the eggplant card's 21–29 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 27.5 °C. Months that stay below 21 °C even by day on average: May and October–December (10–20.3 °C). Nights average below 21 °C in every month of the season, from 2.1 °C to 18.7 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	20.3	11.4	208	19	14:56
June	25.5	16.4	225	17	15:44
July	27.5	18.6	209	18	15:25
August	27.3	18.7	260	15	14:11
September	22.7	14.8	195	15	12:36
October	18.6	10.7	222	14	10:59
November	12.7	5.2	155	12	9:29
December	10	2.1	88	8	8:40

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Eggplant in nearby cities

Around Lugano, Milan is 17 days earlier and Bellinzona 21 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bellinzona	22 km	19 June – 26 July	21 days later
Locarno	22 km	30 May – 2 June	1 day later
Como	23 km	29 May – 3 August	same day
Milan	63 km	12 May – 10 August	17 days earlier
Bergamo	65 km	31 May – 29 July	2 days later
Novara	66 km	23 May – 2 August	6 days earlier

Where to buy eggplant plants and seeds near Lugano

Buy plants ready to set out from 29 May to 15 August (from 8 May to 15 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 9 March to 16 June. Within 15 km of Lugano OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 2 markets and 10 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Il Magnifico Borgo — farm shop
Via Industria 5, 6850 Mendrisio · Mon–Sat 09:00–13:00 · 15 km
Agriturismo Alpe Rompiago — farm shop
Alpe di Rompiago, Bidogno · 11 km
Ricci Macchine Agricole Sagl — garden centre
4 km · ricci-macchineagricole.digitalone.site
Grano Giardini — garden centre
4 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.

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