When to Plant Tomatos in Sterling Heights, MI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when you can plant tomatos by reviewing the USDA zone info for Sterling Heights.


Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos are not cold tolerant which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Sterling Heights 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. Any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sterling Heights. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sterling Heights may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sterling Heights it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tomatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling Heights

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 Sterling Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sterling Heights.