When to plant tomato in Dallas

Where are you growing?

Tight fit

Tight fit in greenhouse

Comfortable in a cold frame

Tomato in Dallas is a good fit outdoors. The suitable growing window of 196 days covers the 55–90 days this plant usually needs.

Start indoors: January 12 – March 8
Transplant outside: March 13 – May 7
Harvest: May 7 – August 5
Season vs crop: 196 grow days vs 55–90 needed
Typical frost (last spring – first fall): February 27 – December 17

Tomato in Dallas is a good fit outdoors. The suitable growing window of 196 days covers the 55–90 days this plant usually needs.

Planting conditions

Start indoors
Harden off
Transplant outside
Grow outdoors
Harvest

Local activity windows for this place and growing method. Blue fill is usually too cold for this plant. Dashed lines are typical last and first frost.

Suitable growing days in a row196

Days to harvest55–90 days from transplant

Jan 12 – Mar 8

Start indoors

Mar 6 – Mar 12

Harden off

March 13

Transplant outside

Mar 14 – May 6

Grow outdoors

May 7 – Aug 5

Harvest

Activity	Window	Notes
Start indoors	Jan 12 – Mar 8	Sow indoors before the outdoor window.
Harden off	Mar 6 – Mar 12	Acclimate seedlings outdoors before planting.
Transplant outside	March 13	Move plants outside on this day (start of the plant-out window).
Grow outdoors	Mar 14 – May 6	Plants grow outdoors until harvest.
Harvest	May 7 – Aug 5	Expected harvest from typical days to harvest.

Blue fill is usually too cold for this plant. Dashed lines are typical last and first frost. Adjust a week or two for your conditions.

Planting and growing across the year

Planting is the sow / plant-out window. Growing is daytime air versus this plant’s ideal (70 – 84 °F) and tolerable (55 – 95 °F) ranges.

Planting uses sow / plant-out rules (frost, soil germination, night, and last-sow): green when plantable, blue diagonal when nights or soil are too cold, amber cross-hatch when too hot, faint for other calendar limits. Growing shows daytime air against this plant’s ideal and tolerable ranges across the year.

Key dates

Typical last spring frostFebruary 27

Safer last spring frostFebruary 27

Typical first fall frostDecember 17

Safer first fall frostDecember 17

Frost-free days292

Earliest indoor seed startJanuary 12

Latest indoor seed startMarch 8

Transplant outdoorsMarch 13 – May 7

Direct sow windownot recommended here

Suitable growing windowApril 14 – October 26 (196 days)

Expected harvestMay 7 – August 5

How these dates are judged

Ideal conditions: Daytime air from 70 – 84 °F.
Suitable conditions: Daytime air from 55 – 95 °F.
Last frost and first frost: Typical spring and fall frost dates for Dallas, shown in the key dates.
Days to harvest: 55–90 days from transplant, from typical days to harvest.
Sowing window: Dated sow and harvest bars use frost dates, soil minima, night limits, and last-sow count-back from typical crop timing. The year strip and weekly chart use the same window: air ratings only colour weeks inside it.

Growing window for Tomato: Mar 13 – Mar 30; Apr 14 – Oct 26 (214 days)

Planting window for Tomato: Mar 13 – May 7 (56 days)

Usually too cold: Oct 26 – Nov 1; Nov 9 – Dec 31

Outdoors: weekly temperatures and windows

Temperatures across the year for Dallas. Shaded bands are this plant’s ideal and tolerable daytime air ranges. Growing is daytime air suitability; Planting is sow / plant-out conditions (same colour language). Window brackets mark each stretch.

Ideal range
Tolerable range
Possible min to max
Average min to max
Suitable
Tolerable
Too cold
Too hot

Selected week · tap a week or use the arrows

Week 11 · Mar 9 – Mar 15

Average 52 to 70 °F · Possible 28 to 83 °F

Growing: too cold

Planting: not sowable

A week is in range when its average low and high sit inside the tolerance band 55 to 95 °F; it is suitable when that average range also overlaps the ideal 70 to 84 °F band and possible readings stay within 32 °F to 95 °F. Crossing a possible limit, or missing the ideal band, makes it tolerable; any chance of frost (possible low below 32 °F) makes it too cold. When a sowing window is calculated, weeks outside that window are uncoloured even if air is in range.

Based on average frost dates.

Show all 53 weeks

Cover method weekly charts

Outdoor weekly chart is above. Open a cover chart only if you grow under fleece, a cold frame, or an unheated greenhouse.

Other plants for Dallas

Calculated by Plan & Plant · Method · Data 2019–2026

Frost and suitability dates are typical figures from climate statistics. Microclimates vary; they are not a guarantee.

How we calculated this

Data: ERA5-Land via Open-Meteo, cell 32.78, -96.80, years 2019–2026 (not a 30-year climate normal yet).
Typical and safer dates: Typical last frost is the date after which half of winters in this sample had no more frost; safer is later in the sample so fewer winters still frosted.
Crop rule: Local windows for Tomato from frost dates, temperature ratings, and crop timing rules.
Confidence: Provisional — short or thin sample for this place.
Full methodology (algorithm 2026-10-season-6).

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