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

The first opportunity to plant cigar plant in Santa Cruz can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cigar Plant

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

Cigar Plant are not cold tolerant which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cigar plant in Santa Cruz is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cigar plant and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cigar plant may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cigar plant indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is an average 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 make sure that you are prepared to protect your cigar plant if you have 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.