When to Plant Pearl onions in San Fernando, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for San Fernando should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pearl onions.


Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Pearl onions are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in San Fernando 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Fernando and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in San Fernando you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pearl onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Fernando

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 San Fernando

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