It seems like every year it gets harder and harder for me to wait until April 15^th to plant my warm season vegetables. Do I really need to wait until then to plant? TW

The answer to your question is yes, you will greatly improve the chances of your vegetable’s survival if you wait to plant until after our average last freeze date of April 15th. And even then, you are still going to need to pay attention to the weather because an average is just that, an average, meaning that some years the last freeze date will be before April 15^th and some years the last freeze date will be after April 15^th. Seasoned gardeners know that they can jump the gun, roll the dice, and plant before the average last freeze date. But, doing so comes with a risk. So does planting after April 15^th come to think of it. Gardeners are gamblers to some degree either way.

The National Weather Service records that our last freeze date in 2021 was Feb. 27^th, so we could have planted a little early last year without damaging our plants due to a freeze. But let’s look at some of the years before then: 2020 - April 18^th, 2019 - March 16^th, 2018 - April 16^th, 2017 - March 14^th, or 2016 - Feb 26^th. The last freeze date is all over the place and two of them are even past our April 15^th average date. But, if you look at the data, April 15^th is a good average date to consider it safe to plant.

Something else to factor in is that even though we may be chomping at the bit to get our plants in the ground, the reality is that they aren’t going to do much due to the cool soil and air temperatures. We might imagine they are putting out roots like a champion but, in cold soil they will likely just be marking time, waiting for the soil and air temperature to warm up.

If you do tend to plant early, you might want to have some “just in case” strategies in your back pocket to help them survive a late season cold snap. One good safety strategy is to have some floating row cover fabric available. In the event of a slight freeze, this fabric will keep the plants a few degrees warmer than the outside air. There are a lot of variables in this, but these row covers do help. In some instances, you might want to double up for extra protection from a cold night or day. You’ll just need to provide the fabric some support to keep it off the plants and to secure the cloth around the edges. Another strategy is to cut the bottom out of a few milk cartons and place those over the plants during that cold snap. Just remember to remove them as soon as possible so they can get the sun they need. Good luck!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

Photo: Karan A. Rawlins, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org