When to plant in Guadalupe, CA

Planting dates worked out from Guadalupe's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Apr 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 11

1 year in 10 by Nov 25

Frost-free days

302

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Santa Maria Public Ap · 13.9 km away · station 74 m, town 26 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 30
Sweet pepper	Jan 25 – Feb 8	Apr 5 – Apr 19	Jun 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 11 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 24
Peas	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 25
Bush beans	—	Mar 29 – Apr 19	May 18
Carrot	—	Jan 22 – Mar 5	Mar 23
Beet	—	Jan 15 – Feb 26	Mar 6
Potato	—	Jan 22 – Feb 12	Apr 2
Kale	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 27
Broccoli	Dec 4 – Dec 18	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Mar 16
Cucumber	Mar 8 – Mar 15	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 25
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 8 – Mar 15	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 20
Winter squash	Mar 8 – Mar 15	Apr 5 – Apr 19	Jun 24
Sweet corn	—	Mar 29 – Apr 19	May 28
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 15 – Feb 5	Apr 15
Garlic	—	Nov 27 – Dec 25 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 1 – Jan 29	Feb 8
Basil	Feb 22 – Mar 8	Apr 5 – Apr 19	Jun 1

Plan all 65 crops for Guadalupe

Guadalupe's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1948	Mar 4
1949	Feb 15
1950	Feb 1
1951	Apr 1
1952	Mar 3
1953	Apr 9
1954	Mar 13
1955	Feb 22
1956	Mar 13
1957	Feb 5
1958	Mar 7
1959	Feb 13
1960	Feb 25
1961	Jan 9
1962	Mar 1
1963	Jan 22
1964	May 2
1965	Feb 13
1966	Mar 4
1967	Mar 30
1968	Jan 28
1969	Mar 8
1970	Apr 28
1971	Apr 24
1972	Apr 20
1973	Mar 15
1974	May 18
1975	May 5
1976	Apr 16
1977	Mar 31
1978	Jan 24
1979	Apr 18
1980	Feb 10
1981	Feb 26
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 20
1984	Apr 27
1985	Mar 26
1986	Feb 10
1987	Mar 22
1988	Mar 12
1989	Mar 4
1990	Mar 13
1991	Feb 1
1992	Jan 23
1993	Jan 11
1994	Feb 14
1996	Jan 23
1997	Apr 2
1998	Jan 6
1999	Apr 9
2000	Jan 8
2001	Apr 8
2002	Mar 19
2003	Apr 5
2004	Feb 11
2005	Jan 13
2006	Mar 4
2007	Jan 23
2008	Apr 20
2009	Feb 10
2011	Feb 28
2012	Mar 8
2013	Feb 25
2017	Mar 6
2018	Feb 28
2019	Feb 23
2020	Feb 5
2021	Jan 26
2022	Mar 6
2023	Mar 2
2024	Jan 12

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1948	270
1949	245
1950	332
1951	250
1952	302
1953	258
1954	261
1955	262
1956	250
1957	284
1958	253
1959	304
1960	283
1961	311
1962	298
1963	316
1964	196
1965	304
1966	294
1967	257
1968	308
1969	295
1970	239
1971	186
1972	193
1973	290
1974	192
1975	196
1976	224
1977	274
1978	291
1979	215
1980	280
1981	299
1982	250
1983	305
1984	212
1985	231
1986	292
1987	248
1988	252
1989	282
1990	259
1991	302
1992	310
1993	343
1994	262
1995	353
1996	334
1997	252
1998	331
1999	240
2000	306
2001	245
2002	280
2003	231
2004	290
2005	317
2006	288
2007	322
2008	237
2009	298
2010	327
2011	277
2012	285
2013	282
2014	363
2015	348
2016	350
2017	289
2018	303
2019	310
2020	328
2021	338
2022	299
2023	303
2024	308

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1948	15.2 °C
1949	15.6 °C
1950	15.5 °C
1951	15.3 °C
1952	15.4 °C
1953	15.0 °C
1954	15.5 °C
1955	14.1 °C
1956	14.8 °C
1957	15.8 °C
1958	16.5 °C
1959	16.0 °C
1960	15.5 °C
1961	15.6 °C
1962	14.8 °C
1963	15.2 °C
1964	14.4 °C
1965	15.4 °C
1966	16.0 °C
1967	15.3 °C
1968	16.3 °C
1969	15.6 °C
1970	15.1 °C
1971	14.9 °C
1972	15.8 °C
1973	15.9 °C
1974	15.4 °C
1975	14.9 °C
1976	16.0 °C
1977	15.8 °C
1978	15.8 °C
1979	16.1 °C
1980	15.6 °C
1981	16.2 °C
1982	15.8 °C
1983	17.5 °C
1984	17.8 °C
1985	17.2 °C
1986	15.7 °C
1987	15.9 °C
1988	16.1 °C
1989	16.0 °C
1990	16.6 °C
1991	15.3 °C
1992	17.1 °C
1993	16.8 °C
1994	15.7 °C
1995	15.7 °C
1996	16.6 °C
1997	17.3 °C
1998	16.2 °C
1999	14.5 °C
2000	16.0 °C
2001	15.9 °C
2002	15.4 °C
2003	16.0 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	15.8 °C
2006	17.2 °C
2007	16.6 °C
2008	15.9 °C
2009	16.0 °C
2010	14.9 °C
2011	15.9 °C
2012	16.0 °C
2013	17.3 °C
2014	18.5 °C
2015	18.4 °C
2016	16.7 °C
2017	17.2 °C
2018	17.1 °C
2019	17.5 °C
2020	17.3 °C
2021	16.2 °C
2022	16.7 °C
2023	15.9 °C
2024	16.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1948, Guadalupe's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 7 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Santa Maria Public Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Callender Nipomo Santa Maria Oceano Arroyo Grande Orcutt