One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Imperial Beach it's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant chicory.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

Frost tolerance for chicory:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since chicory do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Imperial Beach 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chicory indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Imperial Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Imperial Beach is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Imperial Beach you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your chicory in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Imperial Beach

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 Imperial Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Imperial Beach.