When to plant tomatoes in Lille: 16 May – 1 August

In Lille, tomato: sow for seedlings from 4 March to 10 June; plant into a greenhouse from 25 April to 1 August; plant out into open ground from 16 May to 1 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Botanic (garden centre, 6 km) and Botanic (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Lille: soil, season and weather

In Lille the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 8 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 16 May, 38 days later.

Last spring frost	8 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	16 May, 38 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	25 April – 1 August; April outside: 4.9 °C at night, 14.5 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	21 November, 189 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	25 July – 10 October
Days left for picking	119
Daylight	12:27 on 25 March, 15:31 on 16 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, July, has 10 rainy days

Tomato in Lille: 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 Lille during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 23.3 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: November (10.5 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 5 °C to 14.3 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.4	8.6	60	11	15:28
June	22.1	12.5	64	11	16:27
July	23.1	13.8	54	10	16:04
August	23.3	14.3	61	11	14:35
September	20.5	11.9	60	10	12:41
October	16	9.2	80	12	10:48
November	10.5	5	74	12	9:00

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Lille, Ghent is 3 days earlier and Amiens 1 day later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bruges	65 km	16 May – 10 August	same day
Ghent	66 km	13 May – 4 August	3 days earlier
Mons	66 km	16 May – 30 July	same day
Brussels	94 km	16 May – 2 August	same day
Amiens	98 km	17 May – 1 August	1 day later
Charleroi	101 km	16 May – 26 July	same day

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Lille

Buy plants ready to set out from 16 May to 1 August (from 25 April to 1 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 4 March to 10 June. Within 15 km of Lille OpenStreetMap lists 14 garden centres, 3 farm-supply shops, 4 plant nurseries, 20 markets and 33 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Botanic — garden centre
Rue Louis Constant 1, 59491 Villeneuve-d'Ascq · Mon–Fri, Sun 09:30–19:00; Sat 09:00–19:00 · 6 km · lille.compagnonsdessaisons.com
Botanic — garden centre
Rue de Bondues 644, 59118 Wambrechies · 09:30–19:00 · 7 km · botanic.com
Jardinnerie Defive — garden centre
Rue d'Erquinghem 2, 59320 Hallennes-lez-Haubourdin · Mon–Sat 09:00–12:00, 14:00–19:00 · 8 km · defivessarl.site-solocal.com
Aveve — garden centre
Rue des Olympiades - Olympiadenstraat 50 · Mon 10:00–12:00, 13:30–18:00; Wed–Sat 09:00–12:00, 13:30–18:00; Sun 09:00–12:00; Tue closed · 15 km · aveve.be

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.

Questions