One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant tomatos by checking out the USDA zone info for Anchorage.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

You can not plant tomatos until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Anchorage is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Anchorage. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Anchorage may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Anchorage there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

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