Very tender crops go out about two weeks after the average last spring frost

Very tender crops go out about two weeks after the average last spring frost: tomato, pepper, eggplant, lima beans, melons, watermelon, pumpkin and winter squash. Tender crops go in at the frost itself.

Promising If you skip this, it still grows, just less well. The planner suggests it.

How it works

Chilling. A very tender crop is hurt by cool weather as well as by frost: it needs daytime temperatures above 60 °F, and a week of days below 55 °F can stunt it. Setting it out about two weeks after the average last frost gives the days time to warm.

The evidence

Evidence: checked against 2 sources in the research-based literature.

The 2 sources

extension.colostate.edu Read September 30, 2026

Vegetable Planting Guide Colorado State Univ. Extension, GardenNotes #720

Crops: lima beans, cantaloupe, eggplant, pepper, pumpkin, winter squash and pumpkins, tomato, and watermelon

extension.illinois.edu Read October 1, 2026

Time Your Vegetable Plantings by Cold Hardiness University of Illinois Extension

Warm-loving vegetables are intolerant of frost and cold and are typically planted between May 10 and June 1.

Plants it applies to

How this rule has changed

Every change is dated, newest first. The full record, with each reason, is in the data download.

October 2, 2026 A person read the sources and confirmed it
October 2, 2026 Added to the rules

Cite this page

Milpa Gardens. "Very tender crops go out about two weeks after the average last spring frost: tomato, pepper, eggplant, lima beans, melons, watermelon, pumpkin and winter squash. Tender crops go in at the frost itself." Evidence grade: Promising. https://milpa.garden/rules/very-tender-crops-go-out-about-two/

A garden planner built on graded evidence. Every claim states its evidence grade and links its sources on the page. Cite it with the grade, and add the date you read it.

See this rule in the planner

How we grade evidence

Well established: The rule names its mechanism and is settled, by sources a person has read and checked or by plain arithmetic and geometry.
Promising: The mechanism is named and the literature backs it. A few questions are still open.
A good hunch: Plausible by its mechanism, but field studies are thin, so treat it as a lean.
Contested: The evidence points both ways, or no study has tested it, so the planner does not enforce it.
Refuted: The claim did not survive its sources. It is kept so the folklore can be answered.