When to plant pumpkins in Cambridge: 17 June – 30 July

In Cambridge, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 15 April to 18 June; plant into a greenhouse from 27 May to 30 July; plant out into open ground from 17 June to 30 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Cam Home and Garden (garden centre, 2 km) and Oakington Garden Centre (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Cambridge: soil, season and weather

In Cambridge the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 3 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 17 June, 75 days later.

Last spring frost	3 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	17 June, 75 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	24 November, 160 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	31 August – 13 October
Days left for picking	85
Daylight	15:11 on 6 May, 16:45 on 17 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Cambridge: care after planting

Planted on 17 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

8 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 Cambridge during the pumpkin season

About 366 mm of rain falls in the season; August is the driest month (50 mm) and October the wettest (71 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	20.6	11.7	57	10	16:44
July	22.5	13.8	66	12	16:19
August	22.5	13.6	50	10	14:44
September	19.8	11.4	62	10	12:43
October	15.3	8.6	71	11	10:43
November	10.6	4.9	60	11	8:49

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Cambridge, London is 5 days earlier and Norwich 10 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Ipswich	73 km	14 June – 4 August	3 days earlier
London	79 km	12 June – 29 July	5 days earlier
Norwich	93 km	27 June – 3 August	10 days later
Leicester	98 km	21 June – 25 July	4 days later
Oxford	107 km	23 June – 29 July	6 days later
Coventry	113 km	21 June – 23 July	4 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Cambridge

Buy plants ready to set out from 17 June to 30 July (from 27 May to 30 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 15 April to 18 June. Within 15 km of Cambridge OpenStreetMap lists 11 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 2 markets and 7 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Prospects Trust Farm Shop — farm shop
14 km
Cam Home and Garden — garden centre
Milton Road 127, CB4 1XE Cambridge · Mon–Sat 09:00–18:00; Sun closed · 2 km
Oakington Garden Centre — garden centre
Dry Drayton Road, CB24 3BD Cambridge · 7 km · oakingtongardencentre.co.uk
Dobbies — garden centre
Mon–Sun 09:00–18:00 · 13 km · dobbies.com

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.

Questions