When to Plant Strawberries in Gainesville, FL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Gainesville you can figure out when it's possible to plant strawberries by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Strawberries

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

Strawberries are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Gainesville 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your strawberries indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Gainesville there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your strawberries in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

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 Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°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 Gainesville

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