When to Plant Watercress in Gustine, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Gustine should be used to figure out when it's the best time to plant watercress.


Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant watercress a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Gustine. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gustine and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gustine you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your watercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gustine

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gustine

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