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

The USDA zone info for Tampa can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant millet.

Planting Calendar for Millet

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

Since millet are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant millet in Tampa 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 millet and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your millet indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Tampa the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tampa is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Tampa you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your millet in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tampa

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 Tampa

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