The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening 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 Columbia City should be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Columbia City 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. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia City. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia City is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia City

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 Columbia City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbia City.