When to Plant Nicotiana in Zone 3a

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Zone 3a you should be able to estimate when to plant nicotiana.


Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant nicotiana until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant nicotiana
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant nicotiana
Probably not a good time to plant nicotiana

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Zone 3a 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nicotiana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your nicotiana indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 3a the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -40°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 3a is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 3a you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your nicotiana if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.