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.

A common way of determining when you can plant tomatos is to use the USDA zone info for Darlington.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Tomatos are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Darlington 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 really do well. 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 Darlington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Darlington and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Darlington last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darlington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Darlington

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