Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant tomatos is to check out the USDA zone info for Waterville.

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 tells us that you must 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 Waterville 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 fully mature. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waterville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterville and it is different every year. Half of the time in Waterville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterville

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