One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Muscatine should be looked at to figure out 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 the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Muscatine 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. If you wait any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Muscatine may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Muscatine you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your eggplants if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Muscatine

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 Muscatine

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