Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for South San Francisco you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant parsnip.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in South San Francisco 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your parsnip may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your parsnip indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In South San Francisco the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for South San Francisco is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in South San Francisco you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your parsnip in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South San Francisco

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in South San Francisco

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South San Francisco.