One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Portland you can determine when to plant eggplants by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

Since eggplants require warm weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Portland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your eggplants in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

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 Portland

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