When to plant pumpkins in Ghent: 31 May – 30 July

In Ghent, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 29 March to 18 June; plant into a greenhouse from 10 May to 30 July; plant out into open ground from 31 May to 30 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include De Oesterzwamboerderij (farm shop, 11 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Ghent: soil, season and weather

In Ghent 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 31 May, 49 days later.

Last spring frost	12 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	31 May, 49 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	24 November, 177 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	14 August – 13 October
Days left for picking	102
Daylight	14:03 on 19 April, 16:12 on 31 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, May, has 11 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Ghent: care after planting

Planted on 31 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

21 June — 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 Ghent during the pumpkin season

About 457 mm of rain falls in the season; May is the driest month (58 mm) and June the wettest (74 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.7	8.8	58	11	15:32
June	22.5	12.8	74	11	16:31
July	23.2	14	62	12	16:08
August	23.5	14.4	61	12	14:37
September	20.5	12	59	10	12:42
October	15.9	9.4	73	13	10:47
November	10.3	5	70	14	8:57

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

2 of the nearest cities share Ghent's date.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bruges	39 km	15 June – 5 August	15 days later
Brussels	49 km	8 June – 28 July	8 days later
Antwerp	51 km	31 May – 28 July	same day
Lille	66 km	11 June – 27 July	11 days later
Mons	69 km	10 June – 25 July	10 days later
Leuven	71 km	31 May – 28 July	same day

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Ghent

Buy plants ready to set out from 31 May to 30 July (from 10 May to 30 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 29 March to 18 June. Within 15 km of Ghent OpenStreetMap lists 31 garden centres, 2 plant nurseries, 8 markets and 9 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Boerenmarkt Blaisantvest — market
Thu 13:00–17:00 · 2 km
Boerenmarkt "De Toekomst" — market
Sat 09:00–12:00 · 2 km
Moscou Markt — market
Fri 15:00–18:30 · 3 km
De Oesterzwamboerderij — farm shop
Diepestraat 9 · Mon–Sun 07:00–21:00 · 11 km · deoesterzwamboerderij.be

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