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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita it's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant carrots.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

Frost tolerance for carrots:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant carrots a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Rancho Santa Margarita 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carrots indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Rancho Santa Margarita. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your carrots in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Santa Margarita

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 Rancho Santa Margarita

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Santa Margarita.