When to Plant Eggplants in Mattoon, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Mattoon you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant eggplants.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Since eggplants do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant eggplants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant eggplants
Probably not a good time to plant eggplants

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Mattoon 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 really do well. 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 Mattoon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mattoon is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mattoon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your eggplants in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

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 Mattoon

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