One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Monterey you can determine when it's the best time to plant pea by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pea

Frost tolerance for pea:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since pea do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pea in Monterey 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 pea and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your pea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Monterey the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Monterey and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Monterey it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your pea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monterey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Monterey

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