When to plant tomatoes in Ipswich: 25 May – 9 August

In Ipswich, tomato: sow for seedlings from 13 March to 18 June; plant into a greenhouse from 4 May to 9 August; plant out into open ground from 25 May to 9 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Laurel Farm Garden Centre & Farm Shop (garden centre, 3 km) and Kiln Farm Nursery (garden centre, 5 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Ipswich: soil, season and weather

In Ipswich the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 15 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 25 May, 71 days later.

Last spring frost	15 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	25 May, 71 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	4 May – 9 August; May outside: 9 °C at night, 15.9 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	29 November, 188 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	3 August – 18 October
Days left for picking	118
Daylight	13:05 on 3 April, 16:08 on 25 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, May, has 11 rainy days

Tomato in Ipswich: care after planting

Planted on 25 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

25 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
22 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 Ipswich during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 21.6 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: May (15.9 °C), October (15.3 °C) and November (10.9 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 6 °C to 14.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	15.9	9	49	11	15:40
June	19.4	12.6	60	10	16:43
July	21.4	14.4	61	12	16:18
August	21.6	14.6	54	10	14:43
September	19.1	12.6	49	10	12:43
October	15.3	9.8	76	12	10:44
November	10.9	6	63	10	8:50

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Ipswich, Cambridge is 1 day earlier and Brighton 24 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Norwich	64 km	27 May – 8 August	2 days later
Cambridge	73 km	24 May – 4 August	1 day earlier
London	108 km	24 May – 3 August	1 day earlier
Brighton	164 km	18 June – 11 August	24 days later
Leicester	168 km	27 May – 30 July	2 days later
Oxford	170 km	26 May – 3 August	1 day later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Ipswich

Buy plants ready to set out from 25 May to 9 August (from 4 May to 9 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 13 March to 18 June. Within 15 km of Ipswich OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 1 market and 3 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Laurel Farm Garden Centre & Farm Shop — garden centre
Henley Road, IP1 6TE Ipswich · Mon–Sat 08:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–16:00 · 3 km · laurelfarmgardencentre.co.uk
Kiln Farm Nursery — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–16:00 · 5 km · kilnfarm.com
Bypass Nurseries — garden centre
London Road, IP9 2JR Capel St. Mary · 10 km · bypassnurseries.co.uk
Dobbies — garden centre
Grundisburgh Road, IP13 6HX · 10 km · dobbies.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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