When to Plant Portulaca in Salinas, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when you can plant portulaca by checking out the USDA zone info for Salinas.


Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Salinas 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 portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Salinas. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Salinas is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salinas there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salinas

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 Salinas

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