When to Plant Cilantro in Alameda, CA

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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Alameda you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant cilantro.


Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cilantro can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cilantro
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cilantro
Probably not a good time to plant cilantro

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

Last Frost Date

In Alameda the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Alameda may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alameda it frosts late in the year after January 31 so always be ready to protect your cilantro in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alameda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Alameda

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