When to plant tomatoes in Palermo: 13 May – 2 September

In Palermo, tomato: sow for seedlings from 1 March to 12 July; plant into a greenhouse from 22 April to 2 September; plant out into open ground from 13 May to 2 September. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Vivai Lo Porto (garden centre, 3 km) and Oasi Verde (garden centre, 4 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Palermo: soil, season and weather

In Palermo the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 23 February, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 13 May, 79 days later.

Last spring frost	23 February
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	13 May, 79 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	22 April – 2 September; April outside: 6 °C at night, 14.9 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	23 December, 224 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	22 July – 11 November
Days left for picking	154
Daylight	12:12 on 22 March, 14:10 on 13 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, July, has 3 rainy days

Tomato in Palermo: care after planting

Planted on 13 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

13 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
10 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 Palermo during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in July (28.3 °C) and August (27.4 °C). Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: November (13.5 °C) and December (9.9 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in May, June and September–December (3.6–15 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.8	9.5	77	10	14:13
June	25.1	15	34	5	14:48
July	28.3	17.6	9	3	14:34
August	27.4	17.3	27	7	13:40
September	23	14.3	63	12	12:28
October	18.7	10.7	80	11	11:15
November	13.5	6.9	99	14	10:08
December	9.9	3.6	82	12	9:32

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Palermo, Catania is 49 days earlier and Potenza 16 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Catania	167 km	from 25 March	49 days earlier
Messina	192 km	from 25 April	18 days earlier
Reggio Calabria	200 km	3 May – 29 August	10 days earlier
Cosenza	283 km	13 May – 10 August	same day
Salerno	310 km	21 May – 21 August	8 days later
Potenza	350 km	29 May – 5 August	16 days later

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Palermo

Buy plants ready to set out from 13 May to 2 September (from 22 April to 2 September for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 1 March to 12 July. Within 15 km of Palermo OpenStreetMap lists 11 garden centres, 3 plant nurseries, 12 markets and 1 farm shop (collected 20 October 2026).

Vivai Lo Porto — garden centre
Corso Calatafimi 262, 90129 Palermo · Mon–Thu 07:30–18:00; Fri 07:00–14:00 · 3 km · vivailoporto.it
Oasi Verde — garden centre
Via Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, 90125 Palermo · 4 km
Market Della Vucciria — market
Piazza Caracciolo · Mon–Sat 07:00–20:00 · 0 km
Mercato alimentare all'aperto in via Montalbo — market
Via Montalbo 119, 90142 Palermo · 2 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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