One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 a good idea to determine when to plant eggplants by checking out the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant eggplants until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Ottawa 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 fully mature. Starting your eggplants indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ottawa the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

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 Ottawa and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your eggplants if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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