Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Rice Lake should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

It's a bad idea to plant tomatos until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Rice Lake is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Rice Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rice Lake and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Rice Lake last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rice Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Rice Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rice Lake.