One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 using the USDA zone info for Taft you should be able to figure out when to plant mustard.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

Mustard do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mustard in Taft 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your mustard 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 when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Taft. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Taft is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Taft you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your mustard if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Taft

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 Taft

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