When to Plant Purslane in San Diego, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for San Diego you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant purslane.


Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since purslane are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant purslane in San Diego is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in San Diego. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for San Diego is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in San Diego you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your purslane in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.