When to plant zucchini in Dortmund: 5 June – 30 August

In Dortmund, zucchini: sow for seedlings from 24 April to 9 August; plant into a greenhouse from 15 May to 30 August; plant out into open ground from 5 June to 30 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Horn 21 (farm supply, 8 km) and Siepmann GmbH - Fachmarkt für Agrar & Garten (farm supply, 10 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Zucchini in Dortmund: soil, season and weather

In Dortmund the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 17 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the zucchini card — only around 5 June, 49 days later.

Last spring frost	17 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	5 June, 49 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	16 November, 164 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	36
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 July – 5 October
Days left for picking	128
Daylight	15:35 on 15 May, 16:25 on 5 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 14 rainy days

The same dates in Dortmund hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Zucchini in Dortmund: care after planting

Planted on 5 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Pests and diseases of zucchini to watch for:

Weather in Dortmund during the zucchini season

About 448 mm of rain falls in the season; November is the driest month (71 mm) and June the wettest (78 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	22.9	13.3	78	12	16:36
July	23.4	14.2	78	14	16:12
August	23.8	14.6	72	13	14:40
September	20.2	11.6	72	12	12:43
October	15.3	9	77	15	10:45
November	9.6	4.2	71	14	8:54

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Zucchini in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant zucchini earlier than Dortmund; the closest date is in Bochum, 2 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bochum	18 km	3 June – 3 September	2 days earlier
Essen	32 km	3 June – 4 September	2 days earlier
Duisburg	50 km	3 June – 5 September	2 days earlier
Münster	51 km	1 June – 4 September	4 days earlier
Düsseldorf	57 km	3 June – 4 September	2 days earlier
Cologne	73 km	3 June – 3 September	2 days earlier

Where to buy zucchini plants and seeds near Dortmund

Buy plants ready to set out from 5 June to 30 August (from 15 May to 30 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 24 April to 9 August. Within 15 km of Dortmund OpenStreetMap lists 24 garden centres, 2 farm-supply shops, 3 plant nurseries, 21 markets and 35 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Siepmann GmbH - Fachmarkt für Agrar & Garten — farm supply
Am Knapp 11, 58313 Herdecke · Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00; Sat 09:00–13:00; Sun, public holidays closed · 10 km · siepmann.net
Horn 21 — farm supply
Hangeneystraße 90, 44379 Dortmund · 8 km · horn21.de
Markt Langendreer — market
Tue 07:00–13:00; Fri 07:00–13:00 · 11 km · bochum.de
Wochenmarkt Herdecke — market
Thu 08:00–14:00; public holidays closed · 13 km · werbegemeinschaft-herdecke.de

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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