When to Plant Flowering Tobacco in Grinnell, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Grinnell can be read to determine when it's the best time to plant flowering tobacco.


Planting Calendar for Flowering Tobacco

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

Flowering Tobacco do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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 Grinnell 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. If you wait any later than that and your flowering tobacco may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your flowering tobacco indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Grinnell the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Grinnell and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Grinnell you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your flowering tobacco in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grinnell

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 Grinnell

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