When to plant pumpkins in Dunedin: 3 December – 25 January

In Dunedin, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 1 October to 14 December; plant into a greenhouse from 12 November to 25 January; plant out into open ground from 3 December to 25 January. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Wal's Plant Land (garden centre, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Dunedin: soil, season and weather

In Dunedin the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 26 October, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 3 December, 38 days later.

Last spring frost	26 October
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	3 December, 38 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	21 May, 170 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	16 February – 9 April
Days left for picking	95
Daylight	13:42 on 22 October, 15:29 on 3 December
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, May, has 11 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Dunedin: care after planting

Planted on 3 December: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

24 December — 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 Dunedin during the pumpkin season

About 541 mm of rain falls in the season; May is the driest month (61 mm) and December the wettest (134 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
December	17.5	8.9	134	20	15:42
January	18.6	10.1	113	15	15:20
February	18.9	10	87	13	13:58
March	17.5	8.9	72	13	12:28
April	14.8	6.7	74	11	10:49
May	12.3	4.6	61	11	9:26

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Dunedin, Christchurch is 2 days earlier and Nelson 17 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Queenstown	171 km	16 December – 23 January	13 days later
Timaru	175 km	19 December – 7 February	16 days later
Invercargill	176 km	4 December – 11 February	1 day later
Christchurch	310 km	1 December – 8 February	2 days earlier
Nelson	558 km	20 December – 24 February	17 days later
Blenheim	559 km	11 December – 3 February	8 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Dunedin

Buy plants ready to set out from 3 December to 25 January (from 12 November to 25 January for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 1 October to 14 December. Within 15 km of Dunedin OpenStreetMap lists 2 garden centres and 1 market (collected 20 October 2026).

Wal's Plant Land — garden centre
Bush Road 109, 9024 Mosgiel · 13 km
Otago Farmer's Market — market
Anzac Avenue 5/27, 9016 Dunedin · Sat 08:00–12:30 · 1 km · otagofarmersmarket.org.nz
Nichols Garden Center — garden centre
3 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