When to plant tomatoes in Van: 28 May – 9 July

In Van, tomato: sow for seedlings from 16 March to 18 May; plant into a greenhouse from 7 May to 9 July; plant out into open ground from 28 May to 9 July.

Tomato in Van: soil, season and weather

In Van the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 24 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 28 May, 34 days later.

Last spring frost	24 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	28 May, 34 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	7 May – 9 July; May outside: 5.3 °C at night, 16.5 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	29 October, 154 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	6 August – 17 September
Days left for picking	84
Daylight	12:49 on 6 April, 14:35 on 28 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, August, has 2 rainy days

Tomato in Van: care after planting

Planted on 28 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

28 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
25 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 Van during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in July (27.7 °C) and August (28.2 °C). Months that stay below 16 °C even by day on average: October (15.1 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in every month of the season, from 4.7 °C to 15.4 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	16.5	5.3	68	14	14:15
June	23.3	11	19	5	14:50
July	27.7	15	11	3	14:36
August	28.2	15.4	8	2	13:41
September	22.6	11	11	2	12:29
October	15.1	4.7	32	6	11:15

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Van, Diyarbakır is 42 days earlier and Vanadzor 55 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Yerevan	212 km	11 May – 13 July	17 days earlier
Erzurum	240 km	25 May – 26 June	3 days earlier
Gyumri	259 km	30 May – 30 June	2 days later
Vanadzor	275 km	from 22 July	55 days later
Diyarbakır	282 km	16 April – 5 August	42 days earlier
Ganja	353 km	16 April – 21 August	42 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Van

Buy plants ready to set out from 28 May to 9 July (from 7 May to 9 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 16 March to 18 May. Within 15 km of Van OpenStreetMap lists 2 markets and 1 farm shop (collected 28 October 2026).

Cheese bazar — market
2 km
Büyük Rus Pazari — market
2 km
meskenler mevsim manavı — farm shop
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.

Questions