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.

By using the USDA zone info for Sweetwater you should be able to estimate when you can plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since basil are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Sweetwater 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 basil and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Sweetwater. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sweetwater is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sweetwater it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your basil in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sweetwater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Sweetwater

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