When to Plant Strawberries in Oakland, CA

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

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant strawberries is to look at the USDA zone info for Oakland.


Planting Calendar for Strawberries

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

Strawberries do well in cold which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Oakland 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your strawberries may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your strawberries indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Oakland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oakland and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oakland you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your strawberries if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oakland

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 Oakland

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