The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant tomatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Elkhart.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

You should not plant tomatos until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Elkhart 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elkhart. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elkhart may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elkhart you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elkhart

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elkhart

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