One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Sonora it's a good idea to estimate when to plant cilantro.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant cilantro a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Sonora 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cilantro may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cilantro indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Sonora. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sonora may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Sonora last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cilantro if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sonora

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Sonora

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sonora.