When to Plant Eggplants in Clear Lake, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant eggplants in Clear Lake can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

It's not a good idea to plant eggplants until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant eggplants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant eggplants
Probably not a good time to plant eggplants

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Clear Lake 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clear Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Clear Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Clear Lake it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your eggplants if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Clear Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Clear Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Clear Lake.