When to Plant Napa cabbage in Watsonville, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant napa cabbage in Watsonville should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Napa cabbage

Frost tolerance for napa cabbage: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant napa cabbage earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant napa cabbage in Watsonville 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 napa cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your napa cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your napa cabbage indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Watsonville. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Watsonville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Watsonville you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your napa cabbage if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watsonville

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 Watsonville

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