When to Plant Zucchini in Santa Barbara, 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.

The USDA zone info for Santa Barbara can be looked at to estimate when you can plant zucchini.


Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since zucchini require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant zucchini 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your zucchini may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your zucchini indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure 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. Since half of the time in Santa Barbara there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your zucchini if you have a surprise 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 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 Santa Barbara

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