One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant caladium is to use the USDA zone info for San Marcos.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You can not plant caladium until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in San Marcos 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your caladium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in San Marcos. 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 Marcos and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in San Marcos you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your caladium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Marcos

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 Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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 Marcos

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