One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant eggplants is to consult the USDA zone info for Clayton.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since eggplants do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Clayton 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clayton. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Clayton and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Clayton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your eggplants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Clayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Clayton

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