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.

The first opportunity to plant tomatos in Winthrop Harbor can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Since tomatos do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Winthrop Harbor 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winthrop Harbor it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tomatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Winthrop Harbor

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 Winthrop Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winthrop Harbor.