Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rochelle can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

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

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Rochelle 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 fully mature. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochelle. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rochelle is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rochelle last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochelle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochelle

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