When to Plant Kale in Imperial Beach, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Imperial Beach you will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant kale.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Since kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Imperial Beach 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Imperial Beach is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Imperial Beach last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 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 Imperial Beach

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