Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant watercress in Santa Fe should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant watercress a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Santa Fe 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Fe. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Fe is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Fe there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your watercress in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Fe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Fe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Fe.