When to Plant Sweet corn in Zone 10a

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant sweet corn is to use the USDA zone info for Zone 10a.


Planting Calendar for Sweet corn

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

Sweet corn are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sweet corn
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sweet corn
Probably not a good time to plant sweet corn

The earliest that you can plant sweet corn in Zone 10a 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 sweet corn and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet corn may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet corn indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Zone 10a. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 10a is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 10a there is a last frost after January 31 so always be ready to protect your sweet corn if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 10a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 10a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 10a.