One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 USDA zone info for Lenoir should be reffered to in order to estimate when you can plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Since tomatos are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Lenoir 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. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lenoir. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lenoir is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lenoir there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tomatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lenoir

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Lenoir

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