One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 bunching onions in Chico should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bunching Onions

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

Since bunching onions do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bunching onions in Chico 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 bunching onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bunching onions may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bunching onions indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Chico. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Chico may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chico it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your bunching onions if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chico

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Chico

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