When to Plant Zucchini in Santa Monica, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when to plant zucchini by referring to the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.


Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

Zucchini require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last 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 Monica 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. Any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Santa Monica. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Monica may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Monica you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so always be ready to protect your zucchini in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

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