One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant eggplants is to refer to the USDA zone info for Modesto.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Since eggplants do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Modesto 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your eggplants indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Modesto. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Modesto is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Modesto it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your eggplants in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Modesto

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 Modesto

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