One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Salem should be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant cigar plant.

Planting Calendar for Cigar Plant

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

Since cigar plant do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cigar plant in Salem 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 cigar plant and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cigar plant may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cigar plant indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Salem. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cigar plant if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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