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 earliest that you can plant tomatos in Bethalto can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Bethalto 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bethalto. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Bethalto is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bethalto you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bethalto

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Bethalto

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