One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant carrots is to consult the USDA zone info for California.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

Frost tolerance for carrots:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Carrots are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in California is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carrots indoors.

Last Frost Date

In California the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for California may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in California you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your carrots if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for California

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in California

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