When to plant tomatoes in Leicester: 27 May – 30 July

In Leicester, tomato: sow for seedlings from 15 March to 8 June; plant into a greenhouse from 6 May to 30 July; plant out into open ground from 27 May to 30 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Palmers Garden Centre (garden centre, 7 km) and Cherry Lane Garden Centre (garden centre, 9 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Leicester: soil, season and weather

In Leicester the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 27 May, 37 days later.

Last spring frost	20 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	27 May, 37 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	6 May – 30 July; May outside: 7.6 °C at night, 16.5 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	19 November, 176 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	5 August – 8 October
Days left for picking	106
Daylight	13:14 on 5 April, 16:19 on 27 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 11 rainy days

Tomato in Leicester: care after planting

Planted on 27 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

27 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
24 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 Leicester during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 21.4 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (14.3 °C) and November (9.8 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.5 °C to 13 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	16.5	7.6	61	11	15:45
June	19.6	11	65	11	16:50
July	21.4	13	72	13	16:24
August	21.1	12.7	58	11	14:46
September	18.5	10.6	69	12	12:44
October	14.3	8.2	76	13	10:42
November	9.8	4.5	70	12	8:46

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Leicester, Birmingham is 2 days earlier and Derby 6 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Nottingham	34 km	26 May – 3 August	1 day earlier
Coventry	36 km	28 May – 28 July	1 day later
Derby	39 km	2 June – 2 August	6 days later
Birmingham	54 km	25 May – 30 July	2 days earlier
Lincoln (United Kingdom)	77 km	27 May – 30 July	same day
Stoke-on-Trent	83 km	31 May – 26 July	4 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Leicester

Buy plants ready to set out from 27 May to 30 July (from 6 May to 30 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 15 March to 8 June. Within 15 km of Leicester OpenStreetMap lists 14 garden centres, 5 plant nurseries, 4 markets and 6 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Bailey's of Wistow — garden centre
Kibworth Road, LE8 0QF Leicester · Mon–Sat 09:00–15:00; Sun 01:30–16:30 · 10 km
Palmers Garden Centre — garden centre
St Johns 79, LE19 2BS Leicester · 7 km
Cherry Lane Garden Centre — garden centre
Foston Road, LE8 5QP Countesthorpe · 9 km
Thornton Nursery — garden centre
Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00; Sat, Sun 10:00–16:00 · 12 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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