One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant tomatos in Grand Island can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos require warm weather which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Grand Island 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Grand Island is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Grand Island you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Island.