When to plant tomatoes in Derby: 2 June – 2 August

In Derby, tomato: sow for seedlings from 21 March to 11 June; plant into a greenhouse from 12 May to 2 August; plant out into open ground from 2 June to 2 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Dobbies (garden centre, 6 km) and Swarkestone Nursery (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Derby: soil, season and weather

In Derby 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 2 June, 51 days later.

Last spring frost	12 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	2 June, 51 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	12 May – 2 August; May outside: 7.5 °C at night, 16.2 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	22 November, 173 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 August – 11 October
Days left for picking	103
Daylight	13:39 on 11 April, 16:35 on 2 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 12 rainy days

Tomato in Derby: 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 Derby during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 20.9 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (13.9 °C) and November (9.5 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.2 °C to 12.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	19.2	10.7	70	12	16:53
July	20.9	12.6	76	14	16:27
August	20.4	12.4	67	12	14:48
September	17.8	10.3	80	13	12:45
October	13.9	7.9	86	14	10:41
November	9.5	4.2	75	13	8:44

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Derby, Birmingham is 8 days earlier and Sheffield 2 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Nottingham	22 km	26 May – 3 August	7 days earlier
Leicester	39 km	27 May – 30 July	6 days earlier
Stoke-on-Trent	48 km	31 May – 26 July	2 days earlier
Sheffield	51 km	4 June – 2 August	2 days later
Birmingham	55 km	25 May – 30 July	8 days earlier
Coventry	57 km	28 May – 28 July	5 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Derby

Buy plants ready to set out from 2 June to 2 August (from 12 May to 2 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 March to 11 June. Within 15 km of Derby OpenStreetMap lists 19 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 5 markets and 13 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Swarkestone Nursery — garden centre
Lowes Lane, DE73 7GQ Derby · Mon–Sat 09:00–17:30; Sun 10:00–16:30 · 7 km · swarkestonenursery.co.uk
Bardill's Garden and Aquatic Centre — garden centre
Toton Lane 225, NG9 7JB Nottingham · 15 km · bardills.com
Dobbies — garden centre
Burton Road, DE65 6BE Derby · 6 km · dobbies.com
Collyer's Nurseries — garden centre
Nottingham Road, DE72 3FR Derby · 8 km · collyersnurseries.co.uk

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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