One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Douglas you should be able to determine when you can plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Tomatos are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Douglas 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Douglas. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Douglas and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Douglas you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Douglas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Douglas

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