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.

In Bradford you can determine when it's the best time to plant tomatos by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Bradford 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Bradford. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Bradford is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bradford it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bradford

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 Bradford

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