Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Fort Dodge should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant eggplants.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant eggplants until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Fort Dodge is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Fort Dodge. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Fort Dodge is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your eggplants if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.