Fruiting vegetables: when to plant them
Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins and sweetcorn are sown somewhere warm and go outside once nights are no longer cold. Each sheet gives the months for north, centre and south.
This page groups the vegetables you eat as fruit: tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins and sweetcorn. They are sown indoors or in a seedbed and go outside only once nights are no longer cold. A long winter means waiting until May; a mild one means starting a few weeks sooner.
Tomatoes are sown at about 18 °C, in February-March in the north and centre and from January in the south where there is heat and light, and they go out once temperatures stay above 16 °C. Peppers are sown at 18-21 °C and planted with soil and air at 18-20 °C. Aubergines, in the north, are sown in March-April at no less than 21 °C and go into the open in May-June. Courgettes go out after the last frost, once nights stay above 15 °C. Cucumbers want about 21 °C in the seedbed. Pumpkins are sown indoors from mid to late April and outdoors in late May or early June. Sweetcorn, for the RHS, is sown in April, May and June; in Sicily the soil needs to be at least 12 °C.
Each sheet gives the months for north, centre and south, and the spacing. Putting a plant outside while cold is still holding it back does not buy time.
When to plant tomatoes?
When to plant peppers?
When to plant aubergines?
When to plant courgettes?
When to plant cucumbers?
When to plant pumpkins?
When to plant sweetcorn?Frequently asked questions
Why are these sown indoors?
Because they germinate at temperatures you will not have outdoors in late winter. Tomatoes sit at about 18 °C, peppers and courgettes at 18-21 °C, aubergines at no less than 21 °C, cucumbers at about 21 °C.
When do they go outside?
After the last frost, once nights stay above that crop's threshold. Tomatoes want temperatures above 16 °C, courgettes nights above 15 °C, cucumbers air above 12 °C. In the north that is often May or June; in the south it comes earlier.
Does sweetcorn follow the tomato calendar?
It has a shorter window. For the RHS it is sown in April, May and June and planted out in May and June, after frosts. In Sicily the soil needs to be at least 12 °C. In Campania the grain or forage crop in the regional guide is usually sown in mid-April.
Will they grow in a pot?
Yes, where the sheet lists the crop for a container. A tomato, for example, fits a 30-45 cm pot with drainage holes. Months, spacing and the balcony note are on each plant's sheet.
Other categories
See also: Planting calendar · Guides