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

A way of making a decision about when you can plant tomatos is to examine the USDA zone info for Aztec.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

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

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Aztec 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Aztec. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Aztec and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Aztec last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aztec

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Aztec

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