One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant caladium by looking at the USDA zone info for National City.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant caladium until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in National City is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your caladium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in National City. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for National City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in National City last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your caladium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for National City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in National City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for National City.