When to plant tomatoes in Bradford: 29 May – 29 July

In Bradford, tomato: sow for seedlings from 17 March to 7 June; plant into a greenhouse from 8 May to 29 July; plant out into open ground from 29 May to 29 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Acorn Garden Supplies (garden centre, 10 km) and Morrisons (garden centre, 10 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Bradford: soil, season and weather

In Bradford the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 15 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 29 May, 44 days later.

Last spring frost	15 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	29 May, 44 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	8 May – 29 July; May outside: 7.2 °C at night, 15.7 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	18 November, 173 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	7 August – 7 October
Days left for picking	103
Daylight	13:26 on 7 April, 16:36 on 29 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, May, has 12 rainy days

Tomato in Bradford: care after planting

Planted on 29 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

29 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
26 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 Bradford during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 19.9 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: May (15.7 °C), October (13.2 °C) and November (9.1 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.1 °C to 12.3 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	15.7	7.2	59	12	15:55
June	18.5	10.3	77	13	17:04
July	19.9	12.3	79	15	16:36
August	19.4	12.2	67	12	14:54
September	17	10.1	82	13	12:46
October	13.2	7.6	96	15	10:38
November	9.1	4.1	79	14	8:37

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Bradford, Liverpool is 3 days earlier and Sheffield 6 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Leeds	13 km	29 May – 3 August	same day
Manchester	47 km	27 May – 25 July	2 days earlier
York	48 km	2 June – 25 July	4 days later
Sheffield	49 km	4 June – 2 August	6 days later
Stoke-on-Trent	89 km	31 May – 26 July	2 days later
Liverpool	92 km	26 May – 6 August	3 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Bradford

Buy plants ready to set out from 29 May to 29 July (from 8 May to 29 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 17 March to 7 June. Within 15 km of Bradford OpenStreetMap lists 25 garden centres, 3 plant nurseries, 14 markets and 13 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Nice Things Plant Shop — garden centre
Briggate 165, LS1 6LY Leeds · Mon–Sat 11:00–18:00; Sun 11:00–17:00 · 14 km · nicethingsplantshop.co.uk
Acorn Garden Supplies — garden centre
Castlefields Trading Estate Units E & F, BD16 2AF Bingley · 10 km · garden-goodies.co.uk
Morrisons — garden centre
Savins Mill Way 1, LS5 3RP Leeds · Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–16:00 · 10 km
Birchencliffe Garden Centre — garden centre
Birchencliffe Hill Road 75, HD3 3NJ Huddersfield · 15 km · britishgardencentres.com

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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