When to plant pumpkins in Lille: 11 June – 27 July

In Lille, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 9 April to 15 June; plant into a greenhouse from 21 May to 27 July; plant out into open ground from 11 June to 27 July.

Pumpkin in Lille: soil, season and weather

In Lille the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 8 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 11 June, 64 days later.

Last spring frost	8 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	11 June, 64 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	21 November, 163 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	25 August – 10 October
Days left for picking	88
Daylight	14:40 on 30 April, 16:24 on 11 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, July, has 10 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Lille: care after planting

Planted on 11 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

2 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 Lille during the pumpkin season

About 393 mm of rain falls in the season; July is the driest month (54 mm) and October the wettest (80 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	22.1	12.5	64	11	16:27
July	23.1	13.8	54	10	16:04
August	23.3	14.3	61	11	14:35
September	20.5	11.9	60	10	12:41
October	16	9.2	80	12	10:48
November	10.5	5	74	12	9:00

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Lille, Ghent is 11 days earlier and Bruges 4 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bruges	65 km	15 June – 5 August	4 days later
Ghent	66 km	31 May – 30 July	11 days earlier
Mons	66 km	10 June – 25 July	1 day earlier
Brussels	94 km	8 June – 28 July	3 days earlier
Amiens	98 km	12 June – 27 July	1 day later
Charleroi	101 km	10 June – 21 July	1 day earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Lille

Buy plants ready to set out from 11 June to 27 July (from 21 May to 27 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 9 April to 15 June. Within 15 km of Lille OpenStreetMap lists 14 garden centres, 3 farm-supply shops, 4 plant nurseries, 20 markets and 33 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Marché Grand Place — market
Sun 08:00–13:00 · 9 km
Marché de Wazemmes — market
Sun, Tue, Thu 07:00–15:00 · 1 km
Marché Caulier — market
Sun 07:00–13:00 · 2 km
Marché de Fives — market
Tue 14:00–19:00 · 2 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