When to plant tomatoes in Bochum: 13 May – 31 July

In Bochum, tomato: sow for seedlings from 1 March to 9 June; plant into a greenhouse from 22 April to 31 July; plant out into open ground from 13 May to 31 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Grüner Laden (garden centre, 2 km) and Gartencenter Augsburg (garden centre, 5 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Bochum: soil, season and weather

In Bochum the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 10 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 13 May, 33 days later.

Last spring frost	10 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	13 May, 33 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	22 April – 31 July; April outside: 4.9 °C at night, 14.4 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	20 November, 191 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	22 July – 9 October
Days left for picking	121
Daylight	12:16 on 22 March, 15:29 on 13 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, May, has 12 rainy days

Tomato in Bochum: care after planting

Planted on 13 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

13 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
10 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 Bochum during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 23.9 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (15.4 °C) and November (9.6 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.2 °C to 14.7 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.8	8.9	66	12	15:35
June	23.1	13.4	73	11	16:36
July	23.6	14.3	73	13	16:12
August	23.9	14.7	67	13	14:39
September	20.3	11.7	79	12	12:42
October	15.4	9.1	82	14	10:45
November	9.6	4.2	70	14	8:54

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Bochum, Duisburg is 3 days earlier and Dortmund 3 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Essen	15 km	11 May – 1 August	2 days earlier
Dortmund	18 km	16 May – 27 July	3 days later
Duisburg	32 km	10 May – 2 August	3 days earlier
Düsseldorf	41 km	10 May – 1 August	3 days earlier
Münster	60 km	11 May – 1 August	2 days earlier
Cologne	63 km	12 May – 31 July	1 day earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Bochum

Buy plants ready to set out from 13 May to 31 July (from 22 April to 31 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 1 March to 9 June. Within 15 km of Bochum OpenStreetMap lists 29 garden centres, 5 farm-supply shops, 5 plant nurseries, 42 markets and 34 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Grüner Laden — garden centre
Vierhausstraße 2, 44807 Bochum · Mon–Fri 09:00–18:30; Sat 09:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–14:00; public holidays closed · 2 km · gruenerladencenter.de
Gartencenter Augsburg — garden centre
Am Ruhrpark 7, 44805 Bochum · Mon–Fri 09:00–18:30, Sat 09:00–18:00, Sun 11:00–16:00; public holidays closed · 5 km · gartencenter-augsburg.de
Schley's Blumenparadies — garden centre
Wattenscheider Hellweg 314, 44867 Bochum · Sat 09:00–18:00; public holidays, Sun 10:00–15:00; Mon–Fri 09:00–18:30 · 7 km · schley-gartencenter.de
HELLWEG Baumarkt+Gartencenter — garden centre
Am Büchsenschütz 10, 45527 Hattingen · Mon–Sat 08:00–20:00 · 8 km · hellweg.de

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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