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

A common way of determining when to plant tomatos is to use the USDA zone info for Gig Harbor.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

It's not a good idea to plant tomatos until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Gig Harbor 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. Any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Gig Harbor. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gig Harbor may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Gig Harbor you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your tomatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gig Harbor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Gig Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gig Harbor.