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

In Santa Barbara you can determine when to plant napa cabbage by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Napa cabbage

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

Since napa cabbage are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant napa cabbage in Santa Barbara 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 napa cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your napa cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your napa cabbage indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Barbara 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so always be ready to cover your napa cabbage in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Barbara

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 Barbara

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