When to Plant Eggplants in De Witt, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 De Witt you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant eggplants.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

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.

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 De Witt 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in De Witt. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for De Witt is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in De Witt you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your eggplants in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for De Witt

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 De Witt

You may be interested in your other planting guides for De Witt.