When to plant tomatoes in Tralee: 31 May – 2 August

In Tralee, tomato: sow for seedlings from 19 March to 11 June; plant into a greenhouse from 10 May to 2 August; plant out into open ground from 31 May to 2 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Dairymaster (farm supply, 1 km) and Castlemaine Garden Centre (garden centre, 12 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Tralee: soil, season and weather

In Tralee the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 23 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 31 May, 69 days later.

Last spring frost	23 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	31 May, 69 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	10 May – 2 August; May outside: 8.3 °C at night, 15.6 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	22 November, 175 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	9 August – 11 October
Days left for picking	105
Daylight	13:29 on 9 April, 16:24 on 31 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, May, has 15 rainy days

Tomato in Tralee: care after planting

Planted on 31 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

31 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
28 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 Tralee during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 18.2 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: May (15.6 °C), October (13.8 °C) and November (10.8 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 6.1 °C to 12.7 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	15.6	8.3	79	15	15:42
June	17	11	99	19	16:45
July	18.1	12.5	116	19	16:20
August	18.2	12.7	142	21	14:44
September	16.6	10.9	125	20	12:44
October	13.8	8.9	141	19	10:43
November	10.8	6.1	145	19	8:49

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Tralee, Waterford is 1 day earlier and Kilkenny 16 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Limerick	84 km	2 June – 1 August	2 days later
Cork	94 km	10 June – 1 August	10 days later
Galway	119 km	31 May – 8 August	same day
Kilkenny	171 km	16 June – 31 July	16 days later
Athlone	174 km	2 June – 6 August	2 days later
Waterford	176 km	30 May – 31 July	1 day earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Tralee

Buy plants ready to set out from 31 May to 2 August (from 10 May to 2 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 19 March to 11 June. Within 15 km of Tralee OpenStreetMap lists 2 garden centres, 3 farm-supply shops, 1 plant nursery and 1 farm shop (collected 28 October 2026).

Castlemaine Garden Centre — garden centre
Brackhill, Castlemaine · 12 km
Shanahan's Garden Centre — plant nursery
Inchinveema, V93 CH76 Farranfore · 13 km
Dairymaster — farm supply
Rock Street 104, Tralee · 1 km
Kingdom Garden Centre — garden centre
5 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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