One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 way of making a decision about when you can plant turnips is to refer to the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Santa Barbara 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your turnips indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your turnips if you have 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.