When to plant tomatoes in Besançon: 16 May – 29 July

In Besançon, tomato: sow for seedlings from 4 March to 7 June; plant into a greenhouse from 25 April to 29 July; plant out into open ground from 16 May to 29 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Boichard Horticulture (garden centre, 2 km) and Duboz Horticulture (garden centre, 4 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Besançon: soil, season and weather

In Besançon the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 12 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 16 May, 34 days later.

Last spring frost	12 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	16 May, 34 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	25 April – 29 July; April outside: 5.5 °C at night, 15.4 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	18 November, 186 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	25 July – 7 October
Days left for picking	116
Daylight	12:25 on 25 March, 15:07 on 16 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 11 rainy days

Tomato in Besançon: care after planting

Planted on 16 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

16 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
13 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 Besançon during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 25.7 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: November (10.2 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 3.7 °C to 15.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.7	9.5	125	15	15:04
June	24	14.3	113	14	15:54
July	25.6	15.5	87	12	15:34
August	25.7	15.6	78	11	14:17
September	21.5	12.2	87	12	12:37
October	16.7	8.7	118	13	10:56
November	10.2	3.7	118	15	9:22

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Besançon, Mulhouse is 3 days earlier and Fribourg 20 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Dijon	74 km	17 May – 30 July	1 day later
Neuchâtel	75 km	14 May – 8 August	2 days earlier
Lausanne	93 km	2 June – 31 July	17 days later
Fribourg	99 km	5 June – 17 July	20 days later
Mulhouse	113 km	13 May – 28 July	3 days earlier
Bern	113 km	3 June – 14 July	18 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Besançon

Buy plants ready to set out from 16 May to 29 July (from 25 April to 29 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 4 March to 7 June. Within 15 km of Besançon OpenStreetMap lists 9 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 7 markets and 11 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Jardiland — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:30–19:00; Sun 09:30–12:00, 14:00–19:00 · 6 km · jardiland.com
Duboz Horticulture — garden centre
Mon–Sat 08:30–12:00, 14:00–18:00; Sun 09:00–12:00 · 4 km · duboz-horticulture.fr
Jardiland — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:30–12:00, 14:00–19:00 · 4 km · jardiland.com
Boichard Horticulture — garden centre
Chemin du Vernois 27 · 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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