One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You can estimate when to plant tomatos in Iowa City by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Iowa City 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 tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Iowa City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Iowa City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Iowa City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.