When to Plant Tomatoes in Alabama: Spring and Fall Dates for Central, North and South Alabama
Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s own tomatoes dates for Alabama, row by row and never averaged, beside NOAA frost dates for Huntsville International Airport, Birmingham Airport, and Montgomery Airport.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
For tomatoes, Alabama Cooperative Extension System prints 3 parts of the state; the table below copies each entry as printed. Dates here are printed as months or as offsets, not as exact days, so the entries read: Central Alabama (April), South Alabama (About 10 days earlier than Central Alabama), and North Alabama (About 10 days later than Central Alabama). The chart’s triple asterisk on this row marks transplants.
Alabama’s dates, row by row
Alabama’s chart gives 70 - 90 days to maturity for the row, counted from planting seed or setting transplants in the garden.
| Part of the state | Spring planting | Fall planting |
|---|---|---|
| Central Alabama | April | July |
| South Alabama | About 10 days earlier than Central Alabama | About 10 days later than Central Alabama |
| North Alabama | About 10 days later than Central Alabama | About 10 days earlier than Central Alabama |
What to know about this source
The same chart lists recommended cultivars, days to maturity, the seed or plants needed for 100 feet and the row and plant spacing. The page calls its cultivar lists a few of those recommended for Alabama, with many other good ones worth trying.
Varieties Alabama names
If you want names to look for, the source lists Atkinson, Better Boy, Big Beef, Celebrity, Husky Gold, Monte Carlo, Small Fry, and Sweet Chelsea (cherries).
We have not tested any of these, and the page adds no names of its own.
Starting tomatoes indoors
How early to sow indoors depends on the crop more than the state, and the saved sources agree on the shape if not the numbers; UNH’s figure is 6 to 8 weeks.
Tomatoes are the best-covered crop, with six saved sources. Three of them (UNH, NDSU and Montana State) count from the last frost; the University of Minnesota, NC State and the University of Georgia describe their own climates. The shortest figure is 5 weeks and the longest 10, so no single number is right for every garden.
Once the seedlings are ready, UNH says tomatoes are safe to set out 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost, after hardening off.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire | 6 to 8 weeks from seed to transplant; 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost is safe to set out |
| North Dakota State University | Sow 6 weeks before the last frost, transplant 2 weeks after it |
| Montana State University | 6 to 10 weeks to transplant size; the planting window opens 1 week before the last frost |
| University of Minnesota | Early April in Minnesota, 5 to 6 weeks indoors |
| NC State | Any transplant: seed 6 to 8 weeks before setting out (central North Carolina calendar) |
| University of Georgia | 6 weeks from seed to transplant size (middle Georgia calendar) |
Typical frost dates at Alabama stations
The 50% date is the even-odds one: in half of the years the last spring 32°F night comes on or after it, and the first fall one on or before it. Each station below links to the frost dates tool.
Regions in the last column come from the source’s wording, never from our reading of a map.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in Alabama’s calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville International Airport, Alabama | March 24 | November 8 | North Alabama |
| Birmingham Airport, Alabama | March 21 | November 11 | Central Alabama |
| Montgomery Airport, Alabama | March 13 | November 13 | Central Alabama |
| Mobile Downtown Airport, Alabama | February 21 | December 6 | South Alabama |
Worked example
Start from Birmingham Airport: the station’s median last spring freeze is March 21, and its median first fall freeze is November 11.
Central Alabama is entered by month only (April), and the median last freeze, March 21, falls before the window opens.
None of this predicts next spring. It only lines up two published sets of dates; swap in your own station from the frost dates tool and the same steps apply.
Before you rely on these dates
The page carries a review date of September 2018, older than most of the calendars used on this site.
A late cold snap after a mild March is the usual way these windows go wrong; keep a sheet or row cover on hand.
Sources (8)
- Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Planting Guide for Home Gardening in Alabama, ANR-0063, reviewed September 2018 aces.edu
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals (frost/freeze probabilities by station) ncei.noaa.gov
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden (fact sheet) extension.unh.edu
- NDSU Extension Service (North Dakota State University), Time and Temperature Chart, from How to Succeed at Seed Starting, publication h1139, print code 2M-2-99 library.nd.gov
- Montana State University Extension (Amy Grandpre), Can I Grow That Here? Vegetable Seed and Transplant Schedules for Garden or Container, MontGuide MT199308AG, revised November 2018 extension-store.montana.edu
- University of Minnesota Extension, Starting seeds indoors (page reviewed 2026) extension.umn.edu
- NC State Extension (Bradley, Gunter, Sherk and Driscoll), Central North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs, AG-756-01, published July 8, 2016 content.ces.ncsu.edu
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Bob Westerfield), Vegetable Garden Calendar, Circular 943, published with full review March 10, 2026 extension.uga.edu