One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Columbia should be reffered to in order to determine when it's possible to plant nicotiana.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

Frost tolerance for nicotiana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant nicotiana until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Columbia 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nicotiana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your nicotiana indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Columbia is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nicotiana in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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