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When to Plant Marigold in National City, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 a good idea to plant marigold in National City by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Marigold

Frost tolerance for marigold: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Marigold do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant marigold in National City 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 marigold and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your marigold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In National City 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.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for National City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in National City there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your marigold if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for National City

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 National City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for National City.