One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant bok choi is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 12a.

Planting Calendar for Bok Choi

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

Since bok choi do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Zone 12a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bok choi and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bok choi may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bok choi indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 12a it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 50°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12a is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to protect your bok choi in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	50°F
Highest Expected Low	55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12a.