One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant beets by referring to the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Beets

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

Beets are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your beets if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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