When to Plant Tomatos in Brookhaven, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Brookhaven you can figure out when it's possible to plant tomatos by looking at 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 are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tomatos
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tomatos
Probably not a good time to plant tomatos

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Brookhaven 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. Any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Brookhaven the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Brookhaven is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Brookhaven last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Brookhaven

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Brookhaven

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