Alot of seed packages call for starting the seeds x amount of time before
the last frost. When does conventional wisdom in the triangle tell you that
date is, approximately of course? Thanks.

April 15.....last frost date. That's the one most heard around these
parts but beware, it's an "average" so you still might be in for a
frost. Frost can kill tender young plants.

In article ,
"Peter F." wrote:

Alot of seed packages call for starting the seeds x amount of time before
the last frost. When does conventional wisdom in the triangle tell you that
date is, approximately of course? Thanks.

Hi Peter,
Around the first week in April, according to the NOAA:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/climate/...ing.freeze.gif

I got there by going to http://www.weather.gov/, then the local forecast
for Durham, then under "Additional Forecasts and Information" near the
bottom I clicked on "Local Climatology" and went to "Local
Data/Records".

I also see that last year's December was the 5th warmest since 1944.

There's a wealth of information there if you can find the wheat in the
chaff.

Cheers
--
Philip Semanchuk
email: first name @ last name.com

On 2007-01-24, fernvalley wrote:

April 15.....last frost date. That's the one most heard around these
parts but beware, it's an "average" so you still might be in for a
frost. Frost can kill tender young plants.


That is the AVERAGE last date. I don't generally plant until around
May1 since the actual last frost may be at least +- two weeks. Plus it
can be very cool in the last half of april and the plants don't grow
leaving them more vunerable to cut worms. Wallowaters can help tomatoes
but even they tend to be spindly.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

On 2007-01-24, Philip Semanchuk wrote:
In article ,
"Peter F." wrote:

Alot of seed packages call for starting the seeds x amount of time before
the last frost. When does conventional wisdom in the triangle tell you that
date is, approximately of course? Thanks.

Hi Peter,
Around the first week in April, according to the NOAA:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/climate/...ing.freeze.gif

I got there by going to http://www.weather.gov/, then the local forecast
for Durham, then under "Additional Forecasts and Information" near the
bottom I clicked on "Local Climatology" and went to "Local
Data/Records".

I also see that last year's December was the 5th warmest since 1944.

There's a wealth of information there if you can find the wheat in the
chaff.

Cheers

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-13.html

Wake county is in the middle of a zone where the lower end is April 1
and higher range is April 15. This zone map is different from the
previous poster's. That interpolates to April 8 for Wake county. But
your location also affects when frost may kill. Lower spots tend to
frost when higher ones may be a few degrees warmer and miss the frost.
Shelter from the wind from trees or shrubs can affect frost also.

May 1 is the earliest day I will put a tomato or seed in the ground.

Experiment for yourself. Plant some at different times and see which
produce faster, longer and are less susceptible to disease.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

I've been setting out a few plants around April 10 for about ten years
and have never had them hurt by frost. Just south of Raleigh here.
Plus you get plenty of warning that time of year from the weather guys
if they are expecting a frost, but have never even had to cover any up.