One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant eggplants is to check out the USDA zone info for Belleville.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Since eggplants require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Belleville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your eggplants indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Belleville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Belleville is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Belleville you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your eggplants if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belleville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Belleville

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