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 Shreveport should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos are not cold tolerant which means that it is necessary 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 Shreveport 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Shreveport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shreveport and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Shreveport you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shreveport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Shreveport

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