When to Plant Tomatoes in Texas: Fall Dates by Region
Planting dates for tomatoes from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Texas, with 50% frost dates from NOAA for Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Austin Bergstrom Airport, and Houston Intercontinental Airport and one worked case.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension gives tomatoes their own row under the heading “Tomato”, with dates for 5 regions. Across the rows, the first date to appear is June 1 (Region I) and the last is August 1 (Region V), 61 days apart. The guide says transplants should always be used for growing tomatoes and peppers.
The tomato windows by region
The cells below are the source’s text, unedited.
| Region | Average fall planting date | Last optimum date |
|---|---|---|
| Region I | Jun 1 | Jun 25 |
| Region II | Jun 15 | Jul 10 |
| Region III | Jul 1 | Jul 25 |
| Region IV | Jul 10 | Aug 10 |
| Region V | Aug 1 | Sep 1 |
How the Texas calendar is built
Texas A&M’s fall guide prints the average planting date for fall vegetables in five growing regions, numbered I to V, and says that planting at the proper time is probably the most important factor in successful fall gardening. A third table pairs five Texas gardening zones with USDA hardiness zones from 6 to 9B, and the guide tells readers to compare their area’s USDA zone with the Texas zones.
Varieties Texas names
The source names 8 varieties for tomatoes: Amelia, Better Bush, Celebrity, Cherry Grande, Gold Nugget, Juliet, Roma, and Viva Italia.
Nothing here is our pick. The list is copied from the source, and varieties it does not name are left out.
Starting tomatoes indoors
Seed-starting advice for tomatoes comes from other states’ extension services, and it counts weeks rather than dates. UNH allows 6 to 8 weeks from seed to transplant.
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 Texas 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.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension does not say which of its regions each city falls in, so the table does not guess.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in the calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Texas | March 8 | November 24 | Not stated by the source |
| Austin Bergstrom Airport, Texas | March 12 | November 16 | Not stated by the source |
| Houston Intercontinental Airport, Texas | February 13 | December 9 | Not stated by the source |
| San Antonio International Airport, Texas | February 26 | November 28 | Not stated by the source |
| Waco Regional Airport, Texas | March 15 | November 15 | Not stated by the source |
Worked example
For a gardener near Dallas Fort Worth Airport, NOAA’s even-odds frost dates are March 8 in spring and November 24 in fall.
The guide does not say which region Dallas Fort Worth Airport belongs to, so use the ends of the table. Region I’s average planting date, June 1, is 176 days before the median first freeze; Region V’s, August 1, is 115 days before it.
On the fall side, Region V’s last planting date of September 1 leaves 84 days before the November 24 median first freeze.
Treat the result as a way to see how far the printed dates sit from a real frost record. Your yard may run weeks off the station, so repeat the sum with the station closest to you.
Before you rely on these dates
This is a fall guide, so it prints no spring dates; this page covers fall planting only.
Treat the table as a starting range and look at the ten-day forecast before setting out anything tender.
Sources (8)
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (Larry Stein and Joe Masabni), Fall Vegetable Gardening Guide, EHT-056, May 2014 aggie-horticulture.tamu.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