One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 using the USDA zone info for Austin you will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant carrots.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Carrots tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Austin 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carrots may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your carrots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Austin. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Austin and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Austin last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your carrots in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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