One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 common way of estimating when to plant turnips is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 12a.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant turnips until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant turnips 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your turnips may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12a may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to protect your turnips if you have a surprise 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.