When to Plant Basil in Red Bluff, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Red Bluff should be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant basil.


Planting Calendar for Basil

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

Since basil are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant basil in Red Bluff is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant basil and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basil may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your basil indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Red Bluff. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Red Bluff may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Red Bluff there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basil if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Bluff

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Red Bluff

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Bluff.