Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 determine when it's the best time to plant tomatos by referring to the USDA zone info for Emporia.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Emporia 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. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Emporia. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Emporia and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Emporia last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Emporia

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 Emporia

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