When to Plant Jerusalem artichokes in San Rafael, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for San Rafael you will be able to determine when it's possible to plant jerusalem artichokes.


Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

Jerusalem artichokes do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in San Rafael 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Rafael. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Rafael is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in San Rafael you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your jerusalem artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Rafael

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 Rafael

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