When to Plant Pea in El Centro, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant pea in El Centro by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pea

Frost tolerance for pea: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant pea a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In El Centro the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Centro and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in El Centro there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your pea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

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 El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.