Is it safe to transplant my eggplant and peppers yet?

I was wondering whether it's safe to transplant my warm weather crops yet. The "All New Square Foot Gardening" book said to wait until two weeks after the last frost. Our last frost was in the beginning of April but we had a few nights in the middle of April that were in the mid to upper 30°s. The 10-day forecast has all the daytime temps above 70°F and all the nighttime temps above 50°F. How do I know when it's safe to transplant?

thanks,

Weatherkid

I just did today. A couple of my peppers are smaller than others and my eggplant is a bit small, but I can't stand having them in the basement any longer lol. If we get any more frosts (which is probably unlikely but possible), just be prepared to go out and cover them up that night. A quick and easy way is to cut out the bottom of a gallon milk jug (leave the lid on) and just place it on the plant the night before the frost. Just make sure you take the jug off the next day when the frost is over and the sun is out. I'd say go for it, but that's me, I'm a bit more risky with my garden these days. I'm most worried about my eggplant, but if I kill it then I'll just hit the farm stand and buy a transplant replacement.

@Weatherkid wrote:I was wondering whether it's safe to transplant my warm weather crops yet. The "All New Square Foot Gardening" book said to wait until two weeks after the last frost. Our last frost was in the beginning of April but we had a few nights in the middle of April that were in the mid to upper 30°s. The 10-day forecast has all the daytime temps above 70°F and all the nighttime temps above 50°F. How do I know when it's safe to transplant?

Weatherkid

I know it's hard to wait! Your official last frost date for Frederick, MD is the same as mine in Franklin, WV, which is May 15.

See the chart here on this page:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/index.php?q=21702+&submit=Go

You should be okay with planting most warm weather crops next week, except for maybe the eggplant. Eggplants absolutely do not like cold. I am going to wait until almost Memorial Day weekend to plant mine, unless we get a week of consistently warm nights. This weekend and the first part of next week is going to be rainy and temps will dip down into the 40's here...but then I am in the mountains, so maybe you'll get lucky!

pattipan

I understand that eggplant likes soil and air to be around 70* F and peppers like their soil around 60*F so you might want to wait.

It won't hurt to wait. They'll grow great once the soil and air are to their liking but cold soil and air will stunt them and they'll take much longer to regroup and grow again. Its not worth putting them in too soon.

I read somewhere to plant after night temps get to 60.. according to weather.com it is going to be at least 60 every night this week for my zip code.. so I planted them outside yesterday.

I've never waited before, so I'll see if I notice a difference with the peppers.. can't with the eggplant as this will be my first year for them!