When to Plant Basil in Camarillo, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The first opportunity to plant basil in Camarillo can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since basil require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant basil in Camarillo 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 basil and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Camarillo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Camarillo last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Camarillo

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 Camarillo

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