When to plant pumpkins in Inverness: 17 July – 19 July

In Inverness, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 15 May to 7 June; plant into a greenhouse from 26 June to 19 July; plant out into open ground from 17 July to 19 July.

Pumpkin in Inverness: soil, season and weather

In Inverness the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 1 May, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 17 July, 77 days later. 119 days separate planting out (17 July) from the first autumn frost (13 November); the card's 75 days to the first harvest leave 44 for picking, so a start 6 weeks late would still fit.

Last spring frost	1 May
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	17 July, 77 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	13 November, 119 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	30 September – 2 October
Days left for picking	44
Daylight	17:43 on 5 June, 17:18 on 17 July
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, September, has 15 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Inverness: care after planting

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

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

7 August — 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 Inverness during the pumpkin season

About 452 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (80 mm) and October the wettest (111 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
July	18.5	11.3	90	16	17:24
August	17.9	11	86	15	15:20
September	15.8	9.1	80	15	12:52
October	12.1	6.5	111	17	10:26
November	8.1	3	85	16	8:03

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Inverness, Edinburgh is 11 days earlier and Dundee 4 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Perth (United Kingdom)	129 km	19 July – 28 August	2 days later
Aberdeen	133 km	19 July – 26 July	2 days later
Dundee	135 km	21 July – 29 August	4 days later
Stirling	152 km	11 July – 15 July	6 days earlier
Glasgow	180 km	21 July – 28 August	4 days later
Edinburgh	181 km	6 July – 15 July	11 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Inverness

Buy plants ready to set out from 17 July to 19 July (from 26 June to 19 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 15 May to 7 June. Within 15 km of Inverness OpenStreetMap lists 4 garden centres, 1 plant nursery and 4 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Munro's Nurseries & Coffee Shop — garden centre
6 km · munros-nurseries.co.uk
Simpsons Garden Centre — garden centre
3 km · simpsonsgardencentre.co.uk
Ardfearn Nursery — garden centre
7 km
Black Isle Berries — farm shop
9 km · blackisleberries.co.uk

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