One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Cruz should be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant carrots.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Carrots do well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Santa Cruz 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your carrots indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your carrots in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Cruz

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