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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant tomatos in La Follette by reviewing 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant tomatos until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in La Follette 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in La Follette. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°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 La Follette and it is different every year. Half of the time in La Follette you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Follette

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 La Follette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Follette.