One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant banana in San Jose by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant banana in San Jose 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in San Jose. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for San Jose is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in San Jose you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your banana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Jose

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 San Jose

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