One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Key West can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant runner beans.

Planting Calendar for Runner beans

Frost tolerance for runner beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Runner beans are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. It might get as low as 45°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Key West may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to cover your runner beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.