When to plant pumpkins in Poitiers: 30 May – 25 July

In Poitiers, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 28 March to 13 June; plant into a greenhouse from 9 May to 25 July; plant out into open ground from 30 May to 25 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Truffaut (garden centre, 5 km) and Gamm Vert (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Poitiers: soil, season and weather

In Poitiers the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 19 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 30 May, 72 days later.

Last spring frost	19 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	30 May, 72 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	19 November, 173 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	13 August – 8 October
Days left for picking	98
Daylight	13:42 on 18 April, 15:31 on 30 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, July, has 7 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Poitiers: care after planting

Planted on 30 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

20 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 Poitiers during the pumpkin season

About 445 mm of rain falls in the season; July is the driest month (32 mm) and October the wettest (84 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	19.5	10.1	82	13	15:00
June	23.9	14.2	76	11	15:49
July	25.9	15.6	32	7	15:29
August	26.1	15.5	34	7	14:14
September	22.6	12.7	57	10	12:36
October	17.9	9.9	84	11	10:58
November	12.1	5.7	80	13	9:26

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Poitiers, Angers is 2 days earlier and Limoges 7 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Tours	94 km	31 May – 2 August	1 day later
Limoges	109 km	6 June – 2 August	7 days later
Angers	120 km	28 May – 2 August	2 days earlier
La Rochelle	123 km	28 May – 17 August	2 days earlier
Le Mans	158 km	31 May – 30 July	1 day later
Nantes	160 km	28 May – 4 August	2 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Poitiers

Buy plants ready to set out from 30 May to 25 July (from 9 May to 25 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 28 March to 13 June. Within 15 km of Poitiers OpenStreetMap lists 6 garden centres, 2 farm-supply shops, 3 markets and 5 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Truffaut — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:30–12:30, 14:00–19:00; Sun 09:30–12:30, 14:30–18:30 · 5 km · truffaut.com
Gamm Vert — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:00–12:00, 14:00–18:30 · 7 km
Marché dominical — market
Sun 08:30–12:30 · 8 km
Halles Notre-Dame — market
Mon–Sat 07:00–20:00 · 1 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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