One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for California it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant millet.

Planting Calendar for Millet

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

Since millet are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your millet indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in California. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for California is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in California there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your millet in the event of a 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.