When to plant tomatoes in Oxford: 26 May – 3 August

In Oxford, tomato: sow for seedlings from 14 March to 12 June; plant into a greenhouse from 5 May to 3 August; plant out into open ground from 26 May to 3 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Oxford Garden Centre (garden centre, 2 km) and Garden Centre by Homebase (inside The Range) (garden centre, 4 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Oxford: soil, season and weather

In Oxford the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 3 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 26 May, 53 days later.

Last spring frost	3 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	26 May, 53 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	5 May – 3 August; May outside: 8 °C at night, 17.1 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	23 November, 181 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	4 August – 12 October
Days left for picking	111
Daylight	13:08 on 4 April, 16:07 on 26 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

Tomato in Oxford: care after planting

Planted on 26 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

26 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
23 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 Oxford during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 22.2 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (14.9 °C) and November (10.4 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.7 °C to 13.3 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	17.1	8	65	11	15:37
June	20.4	11.3	59	11	16:39
July	22.2	13.3	64	12	16:15
August	21.8	13	55	10	14:41
September	19.2	10.9	69	11	12:43
October	14.9	8.4	83	12	10:45
November	10.4	4.7	77	12	8:52

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Oxford, Southampton is 3 days earlier and Worcester 6 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Coventry	75 km	28 May – 28 July	2 days later
Worcester	82 km	1 June – 2 August	6 days later
London	82 km	24 May – 3 August	2 days earlier
Birmingham	93 km	25 May – 30 July	1 day earlier
Southampton	95 km	23 May – 3 August	3 days earlier
Bristol	98 km	28 May – 2 August	2 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Oxford

Buy plants ready to set out from 26 May to 3 August (from 5 May to 3 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 14 March to 12 June. Within 15 km of Oxford OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres, 6 markets and 8 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Oxford Garden Centre — garden centre
South Hinksey, OX1 5AR Oxford · Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00; Sun 10:30–16:30 · 2 km · gardencentreoxford.com
Silk Tree Sculptural Plants — garden centre
Ladder Hill, OX33 1HY Oxford · 8 km · silktree.co.uk
Mill View Garden Centre — garden centre
Ladder Hill, OX33 1HY Oxford · 8 km · millviewgardencentre.co.uk
Garden Centre by Homebase (inside The Range) — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:00–20:00; Sun 10:30–16:30 · 4 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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