When to plant pumpkins in Bern: 21 June – 9 July

In Bern, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 19 April to 28 May; plant into a greenhouse from 31 May to 9 July; plant out into open ground from 21 June to 9 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Hofladen Soulfarm (farm shop, 4 km) and Straussenhof Hofmann (farm shop, 10 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Bern: soil, season and weather

In Bern the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 24 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 21 June, 58 days later.

Last spring frost	24 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	21 June, 58 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	3 November, 135 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	4 September – 22 September
Days left for picking	60
Daylight	14:49 on 10 May, 15:54 on 21 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, September, has 12 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Bern: care after planting

Planted on 21 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

12 July — 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 Bern during the pumpkin season

About 633 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (94 mm) and June the wettest (120 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	22.1	11.4	120	15	15:52
July	23.7	12.9	120	15	15:32
August	23.7	12.6	99	12	14:16
September	19	8.9	94	12	12:37
October	13.9	4.8	99	12	10:57
November	6.9	-0.3	101	13	9:24

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Bern, Basel is 16 days earlier and Lucerne 7 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Fribourg	28 km	21 June – 12 July	same day
Neuchâtel	40 km	6 June – 3 August	15 days earlier
Lucerne	66 km	28 June – 6 August	7 days later
Basel	69 km	5 June – 26 July	16 days earlier
Lausanne	79 km	19 June – 26 July	2 days earlier
Sion	80 km	28 June – 5 August	7 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Bern

Buy plants ready to set out from 21 June to 9 July (from 31 May to 9 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 19 April to 28 May. Within 15 km of Bern OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 2 plant nurseries, 8 markets and 53 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Hofladen Soulfarm — farm shop
Selhofen 41, 3122 Kehrsatz · Fri 09:00–11:30, 13:30–17:00; Sat 08:00–13:30; Sun "Kiosk in Selbstbedienung" · 4 km · soulfarm.ch
Straussenhof Hofmann — farm shop
Enggisteinstrasse 92, 3076 Worb · "Hofverkauf nur durch vorherige Bestellung - Termine siehe www.straussenhof.ch" · 10 km · straussenhof.ch
Hof am Stutz — farm shop
Stutzstrasse 5, 3126 · Mon–Sun 08:00–20:00 · 13 km · hofamstutz.ch
DORFGARTEN Grossaffoltern — farm shop
Schulhausstrasse 2, 3257 · Wed, Fri 10:00–12:00; Sat 09:00–12:00 · 14 km · dorfgarten.ch

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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