When to plant pumpkins in Tours: 31 May – 2 August

In Tours, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 29 March to 21 June; plant into a greenhouse from 10 May to 2 August; plant out into open ground from 31 May to 2 August.

Pumpkin in Tours: soil, season and weather

In Tours the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 18 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 31 May, 74 days later.

Last spring frost	18 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	31 May, 74 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	27 November, 180 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	14 August – 16 October
Days left for picking	105
Daylight	13:49 on 19 April, 15:39 on 31 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, July, has 6 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Tours: care after planting

Planted on 31 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

21 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 Tours during the pumpkin season

About 427 mm of rain falls in the season; July is the driest month (39 mm) and October the wettest (83 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	19.3	10	76	12	15:05
June	23.8	14.2	57	11	15:56
July	25.6	15.5	39	6	15:36
August	25.7	15.5	41	8	14:18
September	22.2	12.7	56	9	12:37
October	17.5	9.7	83	13	10:56
November	11.6	5.4	75	13	9:21

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Tours, Angers is 3 days earlier and Limoges 6 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Le Mans	77 km	31 May – 30 July	same day
Angers	94 km	28 May – 2 August	3 days earlier
Poitiers	94 km	30 May – 25 July	1 day earlier
Orléans	107 km	2 June – 31 July	2 days later
Nantes	170 km	28 May – 4 August	3 days earlier
Limoges	179 km	6 June – 2 August	6 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Tours

Buy plants ready to set out from 31 May to 2 August (from 10 May to 2 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 29 March to 21 June. Within 15 km of Tours OpenStreetMap lists 17 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 37 markets and 12 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Marché des Fontaines — market
Place de l'Amiral Querville, 37200 Tours · Wed 08:00–12:30; Sat 08:00–12:30 · 3 km · tours.fr
Marché de Monjoyeux — market
Allée Bauchant, 37200 Tours · Fri 15:30–19:00 · 3 km · tours.fr
Marché Place Sainte-Anne — market
Place Sainte-Anne, 37520 La Riche · Sat · 2 km
Marché Coty — market
Place du Président Coty, 37100 Tours · Wed 08:00–13:00, Sat 08:00–13:00 · 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.

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