One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Gardendale it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant tomatos until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Gardendale 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 tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Gardendale. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gardendale may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gardendale there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gardendale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Gardendale

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