One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant pearl onions is to refer to the USDA zone info for National City.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

You can plant pearl onions a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pearl onions indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for National City is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in National City last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your pearl onions 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 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 National City

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