One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In San Francisco you can figure out when it's the best time to plant cauliflower by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

Frost tolerance for cauliflower:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Cauliflower are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in San Francisco is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In San Francisco the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Francisco and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in San Francisco you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your cauliflower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Francisco

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 San Francisco

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Francisco.