One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 first opportunity to plant eggplants in South Houston can be estimated by looking at 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.

Eggplants require warm weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in South Houston is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 little bit earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in South Houston. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Houston is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Houston last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your eggplants if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Houston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in South Houston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Houston.