When to plant pumpkins in Leicester: 21 June – 25 July

In Leicester, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 19 April to 13 June; plant into a greenhouse from 31 May to 25 July; plant out into open ground from 21 June to 25 July.

Pumpkin in Leicester: soil, season and weather

In Leicester the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 21 June, 62 days later.

Last spring frost	20 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	21 June, 62 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	19 November, 151 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	4 September – 8 October
Days left for picking	76
Daylight	15:28 on 10 May, 16:52 on 21 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 11 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Leicester: care after planting

Planted on 21 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

12 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 Leicester during the pumpkin season

About 410 mm of rain falls in the season; August is the driest month (58 mm) and October the wettest (76 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	19.6	11	65	11	16:50
July	21.4	13	72	13	16:24
August	21.1	12.7	58	11	14:46
September	18.5	10.6	69	12	12:44
October	14.3	8.2	76	13	10:42
November	9.8	4.5	70	12	8:46

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Leicester, Nottingham is 1 day earlier and Lincoln (United Kingdom) 4 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Nottingham	34 km	20 June – 29 July	1 day earlier
Coventry	36 km	21 June – 23 July	same day
Derby	39 km	22 June – 28 July	1 day later
Birmingham	54 km	20 June – 25 July	1 day earlier
Lincoln (United Kingdom)	77 km	25 June – 25 July	4 days later
Stoke-on-Trent	83 km	20 June – 21 July	1 day earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Leicester

Buy plants ready to set out from 21 June to 25 July (from 31 May to 25 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 19 April to 13 June. Within 15 km of Leicester OpenStreetMap lists 14 garden centres, 5 plant nurseries, 4 markets and 6 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Holland's Nurseries — garden centre
14 km
Council Depot — plant nursery
5 km
Goscote Nurseries — plant nursery
8 km
Miles Nurseries — plant nursery
14 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.

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