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.

By using the USDA zone info for Downey you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant beets.

Planting Calendar for Beets

Frost tolerance for beets:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant beets a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant beets in Downey is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant beets and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your beets may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your beets indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Downey. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Downey is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Downey you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your beets in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Downey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Downey

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