When to plant watermelons in Valence: 29 May – 12 August

In Valence, watermelon: sow for seedlings from 10 April to 15 July; plant into a greenhouse from 8 May to 12 August; plant out into open ground from 29 May to 12 August.

Watermelon in Valence: soil, season and weather

In Valence the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 18 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the watermelon card — only around 29 May, 72 days later.

Last spring frost	18 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	29 May, 72 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	8 May – 12 August; May outside: 10.6 °C at night, 20.9 °C by day; card 18–35 °C
First autumn frost	21 November, 176 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	59
First harvest, if planted in this window	27 July – 10 October
Days left for picking	117
Daylight	14:14 on 1 May, 15:17 on 29 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 6 rainy days

The same dates in Valence hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini and Pumpkin.

Watermelon in Valence: care after planting

Planted on 29 May: in the first weeks water every 5 days.

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

29 May — feed: balanced (NPK)

Pests and diseases of watermelon 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 Valence during the watermelon season

No month of the season averages above the watermelon card's 18–35 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 29.4 °C. Months that stay below 18 °C even by day on average: November (12.1 °C). Nights average below 18 °C in every month of the season, from 4.9 °C to 17.5 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	20.9	10.6	97	13	14:49
June	26.8	15.8	70	10	15:35
July	29.3	17.5	52	6	15:17
August	29.4	17.4	45	6	14:07
September	24.3	13.6	68	8	12:35
October	19	9.8	111	10	11:02
November	12.1	4.9	99	12	9:35

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Watermelon in nearby cities

Around Valence, Nîmes is 12 days earlier and Grenoble 30 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Saint-Étienne	70 km	14 June – 8 August	16 days later
Grenoble	70 km	28 June – 16 July	30 days later
Lyon	92 km	27 May – 16 August	2 days earlier
Chambéry	106 km	3 June – 11 August	5 days later
Avignon	109 km	18 May – 23 August	11 days earlier
Nîmes	129 km	17 May – 22 August	12 days earlier

Where to buy watermelon plants and seeds near Valence

Buy plants ready to set out from 29 May to 12 August (from 8 May to 12 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 10 April to 15 July. Within 15 km of Valence OpenStreetMap lists 17 garden centres, 3 plant nurseries, 8 markets and 21 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Tardieu — garden centre
5 km
Urbanature — garden centre
5 km
Pépinières Roux — garden centre
8 km
Les Semailles — garden centre
9 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