One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant bok choi is to consult the USDA zone info for Santa Ana.

Planting Calendar for Bok Choi

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

Bok Choi do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Santa Ana 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 bok choi and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your bok choi may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bok choi indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Ana the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Ana is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Ana there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your bok choi in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Ana

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 Santa Ana

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Ana.