When to Plant Flowering Tobacco in Clear Lake, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 first chance to plant flowering tobacco in Clear Lake should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Flowering Tobacco

Frost tolerance for flowering tobacco: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant flowering tobacco until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant flowering tobacco 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 flowering tobacco and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your flowering tobacco may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your flowering tobacco indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Clear Lake and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Clear Lake you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering tobacco 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.