When to Plant Tomatos in Keyport, NJ

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Keyport should be reffered to in order to estimate when to plant tomatos.


Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

You really shouldn't plant tomatos until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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 Keyport 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. If you wait any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Keyport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Keyport and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Keyport you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Keyport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Keyport

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