Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant nicotiana is to refer to the USDA zone info for Utica.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

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

Nicotiana do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary 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 nicotiana in Utica 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nicotiana may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your nicotiana indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Utica. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Utica is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Utica it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your nicotiana in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Utica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Utica

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