When to plant tomatoes in Cambridge: 24 May – 4 August

In Cambridge, tomato: sow for seedlings from 12 March to 13 June; plant into a greenhouse from 3 May to 4 August; plant out into open ground from 24 May to 4 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Cam Home and Garden (garden centre, 2 km) and Oakington Garden Centre (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Cambridge: soil, season and weather

In Cambridge the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 3 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 24 May, 51 days later.

Last spring frost	3 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	24 May, 51 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	3 May – 4 August; May outside: 8.2 °C at night, 17.1 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	24 November, 184 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	2 August – 13 October
Days left for picking	114
Daylight	13:01 on 2 April, 16:07 on 24 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

Tomato in Cambridge: care after planting

Planted on 24 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

24 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
21 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 Cambridge during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 22.5 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (15.3 °C) and November (10.6 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.9 °C to 13.8 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	17.1	8.2	59	11	15:41
June	20.6	11.7	57	10	16:44
July	22.5	13.8	66	12	16:19
August	22.5	13.6	50	10	14:44
September	19.8	11.4	62	10	12:43
October	15.3	8.6	71	11	10:43
November	10.6	4.9	60	11	8:49

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

1 of the nearest cities share Cambridge's date.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Ipswich	73 km	25 May – 9 August	1 day later
London	79 km	24 May – 3 August	same day
Norwich	93 km	27 May – 8 August	3 days later
Leicester	98 km	27 May – 30 July	3 days later
Oxford	107 km	26 May – 3 August	2 days later
Coventry	113 km	28 May – 28 July	4 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Cambridge

Buy plants ready to set out from 24 May to 4 August (from 3 May to 4 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 12 March to 13 June. Within 15 km of Cambridge OpenStreetMap lists 11 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 2 markets and 7 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Cam Home and Garden — garden centre
Milton Road 127, CB4 1XE Cambridge · Mon–Sat 09:00–18:00; Sun closed · 2 km
Oakington Garden Centre — garden centre
Dry Drayton Road, CB24 3BD Cambridge · 7 km · oakingtongardencentre.co.uk
Dobbies — garden centre
Mon–Sun 09:00–18:00 · 13 km · dobbies.com
Phillimore Garden Centre — garden centre
Cambridge Road, SG8 6EY Royston · Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–16:00; public holidays 10:00–16:00 · 13 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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