When to plant tomatoes in Rochester: 20 May – 23 July

In Rochester, tomato: sow for seedlings from 8 March to 1 June; plant into a greenhouse from 29 April to 23 July; plant out into open ground from 20 May to 23 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Stem Plants (garden centre, 2 km) and The Garden Factory (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Rochester: soil, season and weather

In Rochester 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 20 May, 30 days later.

Last spring frost	20 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	20 May, 30 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	29 April – 23 July; April outside: 3.7 °C at night, 12.3 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	12 November, 176 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	29 July – 1 October
Days left for picking	106
Daylight	12:34 on 29 March, 14:49 on 20 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, September, has 10 rainy days

Tomato in Rochester: care after planting

Planted on 20 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

20 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
17 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 Rochester during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in July (27.2 °C). Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: November (9.4 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in May, June and September–November (2.9–15.6 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18.3	9.8	89	13	14:39
June	24	15.6	79	11	15:22
July	27.2	19.2	98	12	15:05
August	26.2	18.6	92	13	13:59
September	23.2	15.3	76	10	12:33
October	16.9	9.8	123	14	11:06
November	9.4	2.9	90	14	9:44

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Rochester, Hamilton is 1 day earlier and Ithaca 4 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Buffalo	106 km	20 May – 21 July	same day
Syracuse (United States)	121 km	22 May – 17 July	2 days later
Ithaca	121 km	24 May – 19 July	4 days later
Toronto	153 km	20 May – 10 July	same day
Hamilton	181 km	19 May – 18 July	1 day earlier
Erie	231 km	20 May – 30 July	same day

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Rochester

Buy plants ready to set out from 20 May to 23 July (from 29 April to 23 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 8 March to 1 June. Within 15 km of Rochester OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 7 markets and 2 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

The Garden Factory — garden centre
Buffalo Road 2126, 14624 Rochester · Mon–Sun 09:00–16:00 · 7 km · gardenfactoryny.com
Stem Plants — garden centre
Monroe Avenue 149, 14607 Rochester · 2 km · stemplantsrochester.com
Van Putte Gardens — garden centre
North Avenue 136, 14626 Rochester · 12 km · vanputte.com
Prop Me Up — garden centre
North Main Street 112, 14450 Fairport · 15 km · prop-me-up.com

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