When to plant tomatoes in Traverse City: 27 May – 20 July

In Traverse City, tomato: sow for seedlings from 15 March to 29 May; plant into a greenhouse from 6 May to 20 July; plant out into open ground from 27 May to 20 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Skegemog Gardens (garden centre, 2 km) and Zimmerman Landscaping (garden centre, 3 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Traverse City: soil, season and weather

In Traverse City the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 2 May, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 27 May, 25 days later.

Last spring frost	2 May
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	27 May, 25 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	6 May – 20 July; May outside: 7.4 °C at night, 18 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	9 November, 166 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	5 August – 28 September
Days left for picking	96
Daylight	12:57 on 5 April, 15:12 on 27 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 15 rainy days

Tomato in Traverse City: care after planting

Planted on 27 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

27 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
24 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 Traverse City during the tomato season

No month of the season averages above the tomato card's 16–27 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 25.9 °C. Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (14.7 °C) and November (7 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in May, June and September–November (1.5–14 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	18	7.4	80	10	14:48
June	23.7	13.7	88	10	15:34
July	25.9	17.2	72	10	15:16
August	25.1	16.9	75	10	14:06
September	22	14	78	10	12:34
October	14.7	8.2	115	15	11:02
November	7	1.5	70	15	9:36

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant tomato earlier than Traverse City; the closest date is in Green Bay, 8 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Green Bay	192 km	19 May – 10 July	8 days earlier
Grand Rapids	201 km	15 May – 14 July	12 days earlier
Lansing	244 km	16 May – 13 July	11 days earlier
Milwaukee	266 km	19 May – 12 July	8 days earlier
Ann Arbor	315 km	17 May – 16 July	10 days earlier
Detroit	341 km	14 May – 18 July	13 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Traverse City

Buy plants ready to set out from 27 May to 20 July (from 6 May to 20 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 15 March to 29 May. Within 15 km of Traverse City OpenStreetMap lists 13 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 market and 6 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Garden Goods — garden centre
North US 31 South 3510, Traverse City · 4 km · gardengoodstc.com
Zimmerman Landscaping — garden centre
East Traverse Highway 9910, 49684 Traverse City · 3 km · zimmermanlandscaping.com
Skegemog Gardens — garden centre
Railroad Place 642, Traverse City · 2 km
Pine Hill Nursery — garden centre
Carver Street 1126, 49686 Traverse City · 3 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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