One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Tempe you can determine when to plant carrots by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Carrots are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Tempe 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your carrots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Tempe. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tempe may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Tempe you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your carrots in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tempe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Tempe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Tempe.