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.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant eggplants by looking at the USDA zone info for North Manchester.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant eggplants until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in North Manchester 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your eggplants 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 North Manchester. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Manchester is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in North Manchester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your eggplants in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Manchester

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 North Manchester

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Manchester.