When to plant tomatoes in Chattanooga: 28 March – 23 July

In Chattanooga, tomato: sow for seedlings from 14 January to 1 June; plant into a greenhouse from 7 March to 23 July; plant out into open ground from 28 March to 23 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include America's Gardening Center (garden centre, 8 km) and Hughes Farmers Market And Garden Center (garden centre, 11 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Tomato in Chattanooga: soil, season and weather

In Chattanooga the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 March, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 15 °C — the minimum on the tomato card — only around 28 March, 8 days later.

Last spring frost	20 March
Top 7 cm of soil at 15 °C	28 March, 8 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	7 March – 23 July; March outside: 6.7 °C at night, 18 °C by day; card 16–27 °C
First autumn frost	12 November, 229 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	6 June – 1 October
Days left for picking	159
Daylight	10:34 on 4 February, 12:24 on 28 March
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, November, has 7 rainy days

Tomato in Chattanooga: care after planting

Planted on 28 March: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

28 March — feed: balanced (NPK)
25 April — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of tomato to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Chattanooga during the tomato season

Days average above the tomato card's 16–27 °C in June–September (29.4–32.5 °C). Nights average below 16 °C in March–May and October, November (6.3–15.2 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
March	18	6.7	139	11	11:56
April	22	9.9	117	10	13:03
May	26.6	15.2	116	12	13:59
June	30.6	19.4	97	13	14:30
July	32.5	21.8	109	16	14:18
August	31.6	20.9	103	13	13:30
September	29.4	18.4	93	8	12:26
October	23.8	12.5	77	7	11:21
November	17.2	6.3	74	7	10:21

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Tomato in nearby cities

Around Chattanooga, Birmingham (United States) is 11 days earlier and Nashville 11 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Huntsville	127 km	5 April – 25 July	8 days later
Knoxville	156 km	5 April – 23 July	8 days later
Atlanta	167 km	22 March – 2 August	6 days earlier
Nashville	184 km	8 April – 25 July	11 days later
Athens (United States)	212 km	19 March – 2 August	9 days earlier
Birmingham (United States)	224 km	17 March – 6 August	11 days earlier

Where to buy tomato plants and seeds near Chattanooga

Buy plants ready to set out from 28 March to 23 July (from 7 March to 23 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 14 January to 1 June. Within 15 km of Chattanooga OpenStreetMap lists 4 garden centres, 1 plant nursery, 4 markets and 1 farm shop (collected 29 October 2026).

Hughes Farmers Market And Garden Center — garden centre
Hixson Pike 6402, 37343 Hixson · 11 km
Holcomb Garden Center — garden centre
Battlefield Parkway 2705, 30742 Fort Oglethorpe · 14 km
America's Gardening Center — garden centre
Dayton Boulevard, 37415 red bank · 8 km
The Agora — market
Hixson Pike 6112, Hixson · Mon–Fri 12:00–17:00 · 10 km · theagorafoodclub.com

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

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