When to plant pumpkins in Exeter: 23 June – 2 August

In Exeter, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 21 April to 21 June; plant into a greenhouse from 2 June to 2 August; plant out into open ground from 23 June to 2 August.

Pumpkin in Exeter: soil, season and weather

In Exeter 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 23 June, 81 days later.

Last spring frost	3 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	23 June, 81 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	27 November, 157 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	6 September – 16 October
Days left for picking	82
Daylight	15:20 on 12 May, 16:30 on 23 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, July, has 11 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Exeter: care after planting

Planted on 23 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

14 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 Exeter during the pumpkin season

About 485 mm of rain falls in the season; July is the driest month (61 mm) and November the wettest (104 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	19.5	11.2	73	12	16:28
July	21.2	12.9	61	11	16:04
August	20.8	12.8	65	11	14:35
September	18.3	11	80	12	12:41
October	15.1	8.9	102	14	10:48
November	11.2	5.6	104	14	9:00

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Exeter, Portsmouth is 7 days earlier and Plymouth 24 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Plymouth	58 km	17 July – 6 August	24 days later
Cardiff	88 km	24 June – 28 July	1 day later
Swansea	104 km	21 June – 6 August	2 days earlier
Bristol	104 km	19 June – 28 July	4 days earlier
Southampton	151 km	17 June – 29 July	6 days earlier
Portsmouth	172 km	16 June – 6 August	7 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Exeter

Buy plants ready to set out from 23 June to 2 August (from 2 June to 2 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 April to 21 June. Within 15 km of Exeter OpenStreetMap lists 9 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 2 markets and 13 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Folly End Farm Shop — farm shop
9 km
Taverner's Farm Shop — farm shop
6 km
Forest Fungi — farm shop
15 km
Shillingford Organics — farm shop
4 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