One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first opportunity to plant eggplants in Wheeling should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

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 require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Wheeling 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. Any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wheeling. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind 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 Wheeling and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wheeling it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your eggplants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wheeling

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 Wheeling

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