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

The USDA zone info for Fort Dodge can be looked at to determine when to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil require warm weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Fort Dodge 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 basil and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Dodge. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Fort Dodge you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your basil if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

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 Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.