When to plant pumpkins in Oxford: 23 June – 29 July

In Oxford, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 21 April to 17 June; plant into a greenhouse from 2 June to 29 July; plant out into open ground from 23 June to 29 July.

Pumpkin in Oxford: soil, season and weather

In Oxford 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	23 November, 153 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	6 September – 12 October
Days left for picking	78
Daylight	15:28 on 12 May, 16:41 on 23 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Oxford: 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 Oxford during the pumpkin season

About 407 mm of rain falls in the season; August is the driest month (55 mm) and October the wettest (83 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	20.4	11.3	59	11	16:39
July	22.2	13.3	64	12	16:15
August	21.8	13	55	10	14:41
September	19.2	10.9	69	11	12:43
October	14.9	8.4	83	12	10:45
November	10.4	4.7	77	12	8:52

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant pumpkin earlier than Oxford; the closest date is in Coventry, 2 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Coventry	75 km	21 June – 23 July	2 days earlier
Worcester	82 km	19 June – 28 July	4 days earlier
London	82 km	12 June – 29 July	11 days earlier
Birmingham	93 km	20 June – 25 July	3 days earlier
Southampton	95 km	17 June – 29 July	6 days earlier
Bristol	98 km	19 June – 28 July	4 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Oxford

Buy plants ready to set out from 23 June to 29 July (from 2 June to 29 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 April to 17 June. Within 15 km of Oxford OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres, 6 markets and 8 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Medley Manor Farm — farm shop
2 km · medleymanorfarm.co.uk
Peach Croft Farm — farm shop
7 km
Willowbrook Farm — farm shop
11 km
Crazy Bear Farm Shop — farm shop
12 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