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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant tomatos is to check out the USDA zone info for West Richland.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

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

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in West Richland 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Richland the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Richland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Richland you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Richland

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 West Richland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Richland.