When to Plant Mustard in Fountain Valley, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 referring to the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant mustard.


Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

Mustard require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant mustard in Fountain Valley 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your mustard indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fountain Valley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Fountain Valley you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your mustard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain Valley

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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 Fountain Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fountain Valley.