When to Plant Tomatos in Lenoir City, TN

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Lenoir City can be used to figure out when it's the best time to plant tomatos.


Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant tomatos until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tomatos
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tomatos
Probably not a good time to plant tomatos

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lenoir City. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lenoir City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lenoir City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lenoir City

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 Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°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 Lenoir City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lenoir City.