One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Chester you can estimate when it's possible 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 has passed.

Since tomatos require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Chester 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Chester is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chester there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Chester

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