When to plant tomatoes in Athlone: 2 June – 6 August

In Athlone, tomato: sow for seedlings from 21 March to 15 June; plant into a greenhouse from 12 May to 6 August; plant out into open ground from 2 June to 6 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Fernhill Garden Centre (garden centre, 2 km) and Homeland Agri (farm supply, 3 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Athlone: soil, season and weather

In Athlone the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 25 February, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 2 June, 97 days later.

Last spring frost	25 February
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	2 June, 97 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	12 May – 6 August; May outside: 8.4 °C at night, 15.9 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	26 November, 177 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 August – 15 October
Days left for picking	107
Daylight	13:41 on 11 April, 16:41 on 2 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 14 rainy days

Tomato in Athlone: care after planting

Planted on 2 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

2 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
30 June — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of tomato 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 Athlone during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 19 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (13.4 °C) and November (10 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 5.5 °C to 12.5 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	17.9	11	90	16	16:59
July	19	12.5	91	15	16:32
August	18.6	12.4	111	16	14:51
September	16.5	10.6	92	16	12:45
October	13.4	8.5	109	16	10:40
November	10	5.5	88	14	8:40

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Athlone, Galway is 2 days earlier and Kilkenny 14 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Galway	76 km	31 May – 8 August	2 days earlier
Limerick	96 km	2 June – 1 August	same day
Kilkenny	97 km	16 June – 31 July	14 days later
Sligo	101 km	6 June – 1 August	4 days later
Dublin	112 km	12 June – 4 August	10 days later
Dundalk	120 km	14 June – 31 July	12 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Athlone

Buy plants ready to set out from 2 June to 6 August (from 12 May to 6 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 March to 15 June. Within 15 km of Athlone OpenStreetMap lists 3 garden centres, 2 farm-supply shops and 1 plant nursery (collected 20 October 2026).

Fernhill Garden Centre — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:00–18:00, Sun 11:00–18:00 · 2 km · fernhill.ie
Homeland Agri — farm supply
Moydrum Business Park, N37 FY05 Athlone · 3 km
Mulveys — garden centre
4 km
B&Q Garden Centre — garden centre
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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