When to plant tomatoes in Lansing: 16 May – 13 July

In Lansing, tomato: sow for seedlings from 4 March to 22 May; plant into a greenhouse from 25 April to 13 July; plant out into open ground from 16 May to 13 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Lansing Gardens (garden centre, 4 km) and Tannenbaum Farm (garden centre, 11 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Lansing: soil, season and weather

In Lansing the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 28 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 16 May, 18 days later.

Last spring frost	28 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	16 May, 18 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	25 April – 13 July; April outside: 3.1 °C at night, 14 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	2 November, 170 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	25 July – 21 September
Days left for picking	100
Daylight	12:22 on 25 March, 14:39 on 16 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 9 rainy days

Tomato in Lansing: care after planting

Planted on 16 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

16 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
13 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 Lansing during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in July (28.3 °C) and August (27.2 °C). Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: November (8.5 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in May, June and September–November (1–15.5 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	20.9	9.7	89	13	14:37
June	26.6	15.5	78	11	15:18
July	28.3	18	86	12	15:02
August	27.2	17	83	10	13:57
September	23.8	14	74	10	12:32
October	16.6	7.9	102	11	11:07
November	8.5	1	56	9	9:47

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Lansing, Toledo (United States) is 7 days earlier and Ann Arbor 1 day later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Ann Arbor	82 km	17 May – 16 July	1 day later
Grand Rapids	95 km	15 May – 14 July	1 day earlier
Detroit	131 km	14 May – 18 July	2 days earlier
Windsor	134 km	14 May – 18 July	2 days earlier
Toledo (United States)	145 km	9 May – 18 July	7 days earlier
Fort Wayne	187 km	9 May – 13 July	7 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Lansing

Buy plants ready to set out from 16 May to 13 July (from 25 April to 13 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 4 March to 22 May. Within 15 km of Lansing OpenStreetMap lists 6 garden centres, 1 plant nursery, 6 markets and 5 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Lansing Gardens — garden centre
East Jolly Road 1434 · Mon–Sat 08:00–20:00; Sun 10:00–17:00 · 4 km · lansinggardensllc.com
Star Tree Farm — garden centre
Willoughby Road 1822 · 13 km · startreefarm.com
Tannenbaum Farm — garden centre · sells: christmas_trees
Sandhill Road · 11 km
The Plant Studio — garden centre
North Bridge Street 125 · 15 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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