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.

It's possible to estimate when you can plant tomatos by reviewing the USDA zone info for Storm Lake.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Tomatos require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Storm Lake 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. Any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Storm Lake. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Storm Lake is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Storm Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Storm Lake

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 Storm Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Storm Lake.