One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant squash is to examine the USDA zone info for Downey.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

Squash require warm weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Downey 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Downey. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Downey is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Downey you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your squash in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.