The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for El Centro should be reffered to in order to determine when it's possible to plant tropical water plants.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since tropical water plants do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in El Centro 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tropical water plants may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in El Centro. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to 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 you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tropical water plants if you have a 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 Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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.