One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You can determine when you can plant chard in San Mateo by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chard

Frost tolerance for chard:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Chard tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in San Mateo 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Mateo the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Mateo and it is different every year. Since half of the time in San Mateo it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Mateo

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 Mateo

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