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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Alamo it's a good idea to estimate when to plant basil.

Planting Calendar for Basil

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant basil until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Alamo. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alamo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alamo you get a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basil in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alamo

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 Alamo

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