One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lake City you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant eggplants.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Eggplants require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Lake City is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Lake City. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake City last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your eggplants if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake City.