One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Irmo should be read to estimate when to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

Tomatos require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Irmo 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Irmo the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Irmo is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Irmo there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Irmo

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 Irmo

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