When to Plant Peanut in Santa Maria, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Maria it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant peanut.


Planting Calendar for Peanut

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

You can not plant peanut until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant peanut in Santa Maria 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 peanut and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your peanut may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your peanut indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Maria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Maria may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Maria it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your peanut in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Maria

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Maria

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