One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant tomatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Brentwood.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Brentwood the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Brentwood is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Brentwood you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your tomatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brentwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Brentwood

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