When to plant pumpkins in Derby: 22 June – 28 July

In Derby, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 20 April to 16 June; plant into a greenhouse from 1 June to 28 July; plant out into open ground from 22 June to 28 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Oakfield Farm Shop (farm shop, 9 km) and Betty's Farm Shop (farm shop, 10 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Derby: soil, season and weather

In Derby the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 12 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 22 June, 71 days later.

Last spring frost	12 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	22 June, 71 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	22 November, 153 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	5 September – 11 October
Days left for picking	78
Daylight	15:34 on 11 May, 16:55 on 22 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 12 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Derby: care after planting

Planted on 22 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

13 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 Derby during the pumpkin season

About 454 mm of rain falls in the season; August is the driest month (67 mm) and October the wettest (86 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	19.2	10.7	70	12	16:53
July	20.9	12.6	76	14	16:27
August	20.4	12.4	67	12	14:48
September	17.8	10.3	80	13	12:45
October	13.9	7.9	86	14	10:41
November	9.5	4.2	75	13	8:44

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Derby, Nottingham is 2 days earlier and Sheffield 7 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Nottingham	22 km	20 June – 29 July	2 days earlier
Leicester	39 km	21 June – 25 July	1 day earlier
Stoke-on-Trent	48 km	20 June – 21 July	2 days earlier
Sheffield	51 km	29 June – 28 July	7 days later
Birmingham	55 km	20 June – 25 July	2 days earlier
Coventry	57 km	21 June – 23 July	1 day earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Derby

Buy plants ready to set out from 22 June to 28 July (from 1 June to 28 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 20 April to 16 June. Within 15 km of Derby OpenStreetMap lists 19 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 5 markets and 13 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Newlands Farm Shop & Tea Room — farm shop
Wed–Fri 09:00–15:30; Sat 09:00–16:00; Sun 09:30–14:00 · 13 km · newlandsfarmshop.co.uk
Trinity Farm Organics — farm shop
Awsworth Lane, NG16 2RZ Nottingham · 15 km · trinityfarm.co.uk
Oakfield Farm Shop — farm shop
Belper Road, DE7 6FP Ilkeston · Tue–Thu, Sun 10:00–16:00; Fri, Sat 09:00–16:00; Mon closed · 9 km
Betty's Farm Shop — farm shop
The Castle Way, DE65 6BW Derby · Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00 · 10 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.

Questions