frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Cilantro in Los Angeles, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant cilantro in Los Angeles by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cilantro

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

Cilantro are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Los Angeles 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cilantro indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Los Angeles. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Angeles and it is different every year. Half of the time in Los Angeles it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cilantro in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Angeles

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 Los Angeles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Angeles.