Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when to plant pearl onions is to use the USDA zone info for Chico.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Pearl onions do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pearl 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pearl onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chico and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chico you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your pearl onions if you have a surprise late frost.

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.