One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant runner beans in Watsonville by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

Frost tolerance for runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You really shouldn't plant runner beans until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant runner beans in Watsonville 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 runner beans and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your runner beans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your runner beans indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Watsonville the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Watsonville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Watsonville last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your runner beans if you have a surprise 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 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 Watsonville

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