When to Plant Eggplants in Chelsea, MA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Chelsea it's a good idea to determine when you can plant eggplants.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Since eggplants do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant eggplants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant eggplants
Probably not a good time to plant eggplants

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Chelsea 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. If you wait any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chelsea. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Chelsea is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chelsea it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your eggplants if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Chelsea

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