One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Molalla can be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos are not cold tolerant 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 tomatos in Molalla 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Molalla. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Molalla is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Molalla you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Molalla

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Molalla

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