When to Plant Leeks in San Jose, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 first opportunity to plant leeks in San Jose should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Leeks are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant leeks in San Jose 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your leeks indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Jose the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Jose is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in San Jose last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your leeks in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 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 San Jose

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