When to plant pumpkins in Ballarat: 18 December – 22 February

In Ballarat, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 16 October to 11 January; plant into a greenhouse from 27 November to 22 February; plant out into open ground from 18 December to 22 February. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Formosa Gardens Nursery (garden centre, 1 km) and Nutrien Ag Solutions Ballarat (farm supply, 3 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Ballarat: soil, season and weather

In Ballarat the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 August, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 18 December, 120 days later.

Last spring frost	20 August
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	18 December, 120 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	18 June, 183 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	2 March – 7 May
Days left for picking	108
Daylight	13:50 on 6 November, 14:45 on 18 December
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, February, has 4 rainy days

The same dates in Ballarat hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini and Watermelon.

Pumpkin in Ballarat: care after planting

Planted on 18 December: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

8 January — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of pumpkin 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 Ballarat during the pumpkin season

About 342 mm of rain falls in the season; February is the driest month (24 mm) and May the wettest (61 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
December	22.8	11.1	51	8	14:44
January	25.9	13.5	51	7	14:28
February	24.4	12.7	24	4	13:29
March	22.5	12.1	39	6	12:22
April	17.8	9.4	55	7	11:08
May	13.4	6.7	61	11	10:08
June	10.4	4.7	61	11	9:35

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant pumpkin earlier than Ballarat; the closest date is in Launceston, 5 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Geelong	79 km	from 23 November	25 days earlier
Bendigo	98 km	16 November – 22 February	32 days earlier
Melbourne	101 km	12 November – 28 February	36 days earlier
Albury	320 km	9 November – 23 February	39 days earlier
Devonport	455 km	12 December – 29 February	6 days earlier
Launceston	514 km	13 December – 11 February	5 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Ballarat

Buy plants ready to set out from 18 December to 22 February (from 27 November to 22 February for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 16 October to 11 January. Within 15 km of Ballarat OpenStreetMap lists 3 garden centres, 4 farm-supply shops, 2 plant nurseries and 1 farm shop (collected 20 October 2026).

Formosa Gardens Nursery — garden centre
Leith Street 104, 3350 · Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00; Sat–Sun 10:00–16:00 · 1 km · formosagardensnursery.com.au
Nutrien Ag Solutions Ballarat — farm supply
Gillies Street South 137, 3350 · 3 km
Hewitt & Whitty — farm supply
Wiltshire Lane 4 · 4 km
Thistleberry Farm — farm shop
Williams Lane 35, 3352 · Dec–Mar Tue–Sun 08:00–20:00 · 15 km · thistleberry.com.au

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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