One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant eggplants is to look at the USDA zone info for Espanola.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Eggplants do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Espanola 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. If you wait any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Espanola the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Espanola is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Espanola there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your eggplants in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Espanola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Espanola

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Espanola.