Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Arcata should be used to figure out when you can plant string beans.

Planting Calendar for String beans

Frost tolerance for string beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant string beans until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Arcata is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Arcata. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Arcata is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Arcata it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your string beans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arcata

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 Arcata

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