When to Plant Tomatos in Minooka, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant tomatos in Minooka should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Since tomatos require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Minooka. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Minooka and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Minooka you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Minooka

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 Minooka

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