California

When to Plant Tomatoes in California

California does not have one tomato planting date. The state's own extension table splits it into four growing regions, with windows that open in December in the desert valleys and in May on the north coast. Elevation and distance from the ocean can shift your date by a month either way.

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Reviewed & verified by GrowerBuddy Editorial TeamLast updated: 2026-09-26• Sources

The short answer

Desert valleys: December – March
Interior valleys: March – May
South coast: April – mid-July
North & north coast: May
Start seeds indoors: 4–6 weeks before set-out

When to plant tomatoes in California: a ripening tomato on the vine above straw mulch in a sunlit garden bed.

The windows below come from the University of California's own tomato planting table, which groups the state into desert valleys, interior valleys, the south coast from San Luis Obispo south, and the north coast from Monterey north.

Set plants out when nights are holding above roughly 50–55°F and the soil has warmed with them; a thermometer reading in your own bed beats any state map.

In the desert valleys heat ends the season and frost is not the constraint, while an interior-valley season runs to a December frost with a July and August stall in the middle: flowers stop setting around 100°F, and nights above 75°F interfere with pollination.

On the coast, cool nights and marine-layer light matter more than the calendar, so short-season and cherry varieties carry the season where a big beefsteak stalls.

Elevation moves the date more than latitude does here: a UC Master Gardener frost table for the Sacramento area shows an average first fall frost of September 24 at Nevada City against December 10 in Sacramento.

Four growing regions

Find your region and read its window

These are the four areas in the University of California's tomato planting table, with the seed-starting dates counted back from each set-out window. Pick yours to see its months, its dates, and the hazard that decides how the season goes.

Filter the regions

Set plants outSet plants out and start seedsStart seeds indoorsToo hot for fruit setOutside the window

Desert valleys

UC climate zone B

Imperial and Coachella valleys · UC groups the high and low deserts with the inland valleys, and that grouping shows up in the season: heat is the hard edge, not cold.

JFMAMJJASOND

Set plants out: December – March
Start seeds indoors: November – February
What ends the season: Heat, not frost. A plant set out in December or January is finishing as the 100°F days arrive, and flowering shuts down for the summer.

The hazard to plan around

Summer heat ends this crop early

UC's temperature table puts flowering out of business at 100°F, and the Imperial and Coachella valleys reach that most years from June through September. A crop planted late is still flowering when those weeks arrive, and flowering stops.

The move for this region

Plant to finish, not to start: work back from your hottest weeks. Count the variety's days to maturity from the planting date, not from your first frost date, which is not the constraint here.

Places in this window: El Centro · Brawley · Indio · Coachella · Palm Springs · Blythe

Also start here: The high desert around Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms runs cooler than the valley floor. Start from the desert dates, then track your own night temperatures instead of the calendar on the floor of the valley.

Interior valleys

UC climate zone B

Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys · Inland valleys and deserts share this zone. Summer days above 95°F are why the varieties that work here are not the ones that work on the coast.

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Set plants out: March – May
Start seeds indoors: February – April
What ends the season: A December frost on the valley floor ends it, and the date moves fast as you climb. Sacramento's average first fall frost is December 10; Davis is November 2, and Placerville is October 22.

The hazard to plan around

A July and August stall in the middle of the season

Day temperatures over 90°F with dry air hamper fruit set, and nights above 75°F interfere with the pollen tubes. That is an ordinary July in the valleys, so the middle of the season often goes quiet between the first flush and the fall ripening.

The move for this region

Expect a gap instead of a failure. Pick a variety that sets fruit in heat, keep water even through the hottest weeks, and let the plants carry on into the cooler fall, when they often set again.

Places in this window: Redding · Chico · Sacramento · Woodland · Davis · Stockton · Modesto · Fresno · Visalia · Bakersfield

Also start here: Riverside, San Bernardino, the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, and the inland valleys of San Diego County sit in the same inland climate group. Start from these dates, but expect a longer, hotter summer and a milder winter than Sacramento's.

South coast

UC climate zone A

San Luis Obispo County south · Coastal areas and the coastal foothills, where summer daytime temperatures usually stay below 95°F. The zone is defined by what it does not do — overheat — as much as by warmth.

JFMAMJJASOND

Set plants out: April – mid-July
Start seeds indoors: March – May
What ends the season: Cooling nights and shorter days rather than frost. Frost is rare enough near the coast that UC leaves the window open into July, which is what makes a second planting possible here.

The hazard to plan around

Late-spring fog keeps the nights below what tomatoes want

South coast blossoms drop after several days of nights below 55°F, and low light during the marine layer slows the plant before it ever gets to flower. An April set-out is the earliest end of the window, and on the foggy coast it often runs into nights below 55°F.

The move for this region

The long window is the feature. Plant a first round in April, add a second round in June or early July for an autumn harvest, and give the second round the sunniest, most protected spot you have.

Places in this window: San Luis Obispo · Santa Barbara · Ventura · Oxnard · Long Beach · Los Angeles · Irvine · Carlsbad · San Diego

Also start here: Inland Orange County, Temecula, and the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys heat up faster than the coast: plan for the interior-valley summer stall, and do not count on the fog belt's mild nights to protect you.

North and north coast

UC climate zone C

Monterey County north · The coolest of UC's three tomato zones, covering the central and northern coastal areas and the cool coastal valleys from Santa Maria north. This is the one zone where variety choice decides the season.

JFMAMJJASOND

Set plants out: May
Start seeds indoors: March – April
What ends the season: Cooling nights and the first frost. In the fog belt the effective season is short at both ends: nights warm late in spring and cool early in fall, so fruit set stops before the calendar says summer is over.

The hazard to plan around

Fog and cool nights, not cold snaps

Early blight and damping-off are easier to start when the weather stays cool, and fruit set needs nights above 50–55°F. A full-season beefsteak can spend the summer growing without ever ripening a crop this far north.

The move for this region

Choose for speed and for cooler growing: shorter days to maturity, cherry and small-fruit types, and compact plants for low-light yards. UC's advice for foggy gardens is the same: grow what matures quickly, not what grows biggest.

Places in this window: Monterey · Santa Cruz · Half Moon Bay · Pacifica · San Francisco · Bodega Bay · Fort Bragg · Eureka

Also start here: Santa Rosa, Ukiah, and the inland valleys behind the fog line run warmer than the coast and can be ready earlier. Sonoma County's Master Gardeners note that May is when the soil and air have normally warmed enough, while some years allow planting after April 15.

Month by month

Which California regions are in tomato season this month

Read down the columns to see what is happening across the state in any one month, or across a row to see one region's year. Blank months are outside that region's window for that job.

California tomato planting and seed-starting windows by region and month.
Region	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Desert valleys	Both	Both	Plant	—	—	Heat	Heat	Heat	Heat	—	Seed	Both
Interior valleys	—	Seed	Both	Both	Plant	—	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	—
South coast	—	—	Seed	Both	Both	Plant	Plant	—	—	—	—	—
North and north coast	—	—	Seed	Seed	Plant	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Set plants outSet plants out and start seedsStart seeds indoorsToo hot for fruit setOutside the window

Window dates from UC's California tomato planting table; heat months from UC's fruit-set temperatures.

Temperature ladder

The temperature numbers behind every planting window

32°F

Potential frost injury

Tomatoes are not frost-tolerant, and a young plant can be killed outright.

45°F

Growth slows to a crawl

Plants sit rather than grow, which is what an early planting into cold soil looks like.

50–55°F

Minimum night temperature for fruit set

Below this, pollen tubes fail and flowers drop instead of setting fruit.

70–80°F

Optimum germination temperature

The soil temperature band for starting seed, which is warmer than most spring soil.

80–90°F

Optimum growth

The band tomatoes do their best work in, day after day.

90–100°F

Fruit set starts to fail

Day temperatures over 90°F with low humidity hamper fruit set; a few days at 100°F stop it entirely.

Why California tomatoes go quiet in July and August

Most of California's tomato-growing area gets hot enough in midsummer to interrupt the crop, and the interruption is not a disease or a nutrient problem. It is pollination. Tomato flowers fertilize themselves, and the pollen tubes that carry that process fail when nights stay above 75°F, when nights fall below 55°F, or when hot, dry days follow each other for a week.

UC Master Gardeners put optimal fertilization at 80–85°F in the day with nights between 62°F and 72°F. Interior valleys and desert gardens spend much of July and August well above that, so plants keep growing, keep flowering and keep dropping blossoms. The Bay Area and the coast have the opposite problem: nights under 55°F during late-spring fog do the same thing from the other direction. In the smoggy basins, air quality is a further contributor to blossom drop.

The practical response is to stop treating midsummer as the harvest peak inland. Early determinate types are picked out before the heat gets serious; heat-set varieties keep setting through it; afternoon shade, mulch and even moisture take the edge off. A plant that looks healthy but barren in August is usually behaving exactly as the temperature says it should.

Water deeply and evenly. UC's guidance is drip or furrow irrigation instead of overhead water, which also keeps foliage dry.
Shade cloth or a spot that loses the sun by early afternoon helps inland gardens through the hottest weeks.
A mulch layer keeps the root zone from swinging between wet and dry, which is one of the non-temperature causes of blossom drop.
Do not push nitrogen when the plant is flowering and setting poorly; UC notes that excessive nitrogen early delays flowering and fruit set.

What the marine layer does to a coastal season

Coastal California gardens often fail with the calendar rather than against it. Plant in April on the south coast and the plants can sit through weeks of fog with nights under 55°F, which is below the temperature fruit set needs. The plant stays green and keeps making leaves, and the first cluster drops.

The north coast and the fog belt have a shorter version of the same season at both ends. UC's advice for foggy gardens is to grow varieties with a relatively short number of days to maturity, or ones that ripen in cooler temperatures, not the beefsteaks that need a hot summer to taste like anything.

Light is the other half of it. Low light intensity limits fruit set on its own, ahead of any temperature problem, so a coastal garden in shade will struggle no matter how carefully the dates are chosen. Six to eight hours of direct sun is the working minimum, and the warmest wall or the sunniest corner is worth more than a week of extra season.

Choose early-maturing and cherry types, and look for coastal-tested varieties where a supplier lists them.
Keep row cover or a light frost blanket handy for the first weeks. UC notes it traps daytime heat and slows its loss at night.
Clear the spring soil of cool-weather disease pressure by planting into warmer weather, not into a wet, cool bed.
Do not let a slow start tempt you into heavy feeding. More leaf growth is not the fix.

In California, your elevation changes the date more than your latitude

The same latitude can hold a December frost date in the valley and a September one in the foothills an hour away. Elevation and distance from the ocean set the first and last frost dates, and those dates set how long a tomato has to finish.

UC Master Gardeners of Placer County write their vegetable planting chart for the low-elevation gardens and tell higher elevations to delay; the same county's frost table runs from mid-March at 165 feet to mid-April above 3,000 feet. Sacramento County's table shows the same spread across neighboring towns.

Nevada City's first fall frost arrives about eleven weeks before Sacramento's, and its last spring frost about eighteen weeks later. Two gardens in the same planting region can be a season apart. UC's advice with these dates is to contact a local Master Gardener program and experiment, because they are averages for areas far too large to be exact.

Average frost dates reported by UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County for the Sacramento area and neighboring foothill towns.

Place	Average first fall frost	Average last spring frost
Nevada City	September 24	June 4
Placerville	October 22	May 18
Auburn	November 14	April 13
Marysville	November 14	March 16
Woodland	November 5	April 1
Davis	November 2	April 18
Lodi	November 2	March 31
Sacramento	December 10	January 27

Choosing a tomato that fits your region's season

Days to maturity is the number that turns a planting window into a plan. Read it as working days from transplant to first ripe fruit in good conditions, then count backwards from whatever ends your season: frost in the north and the interior, heat in the desert, cooling nights on the coast.

Coastal and foothill gardens are usually choosing between a short-season variety that finishes and a long-season one that never does. Inland gardens have the opposite problem: the variety needs to set fruit in heat to keep producing through midsummer.

Region	Days to maturity to start from	What to look for
Desert valleys	Short, around 60–75 days	Heat-set varieties for the shoulders of the season, and early types that finish before the 100°F weeks.
Interior valleys	Mid-season, around 70–80 days	Heat tolerance for the July gap, plus disease resistance for the smoggy basins. Indeterminate types keep producing into the cool fall.
South coast	Mid to late, around 75–85 days	Disease resistance for the humid marine layer, and a second, shorter-season round for the late planting.
North and north coast	Early, around 55–70 days	Short-season, cherry, and compact types; the shorter the season to first fruit, the better a fog belt suits it.

Finishing the California season

In the north and inland, the season ends on a frost date you can look up, so the last few weeks are about getting fruit ripe, not about setting more. UC's guidance is to leave green fruit on the plant as long as temperatures are above 50°F most of the time, then pick it as it starts to color and ripen it indoors at about 70°F, moving it somewhere cooler as it turns pink.

In the desert valleys the season has already finished by then, and on the south coast there may be a second round still ripening. Wherever the frost date lands, the last weeks are the same job: don't leave ripe fruit on the vine longer than necessary, because rain and cool humidity invite cracking and gray mold.

Count days to maturity backwards from your own first fall frost date, not from the state average.
Ripen fruit that has started to color indoors at around 70°F, then hold it cooler as it turns, and refrigerate only when fully ripe.
Pick before a rain forecast, not after it, especially in coastal gardens where fruit molds build up.

FAQ

Quick answers before you head back outside

These are the questions that usually come up once the guide turns into real garden work.

What month do you plant tomatoes in California?

It depends on the region. UC's tomato planting table gives December to March for the Imperial and Coachella valleys, March to May for the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, April to mid-July for the south coast from San Luis Obispo south, and May for the north coast from Monterey north. Start transplants indoors four to six weeks before the date you want.

Can you plant tomatoes in California in February?

In the desert valleys, yes: December through March is the window there. In the interior valleys, February is when seeds go indoors, with plants going out from March onwards. On the coast and in the north, February is too early for outdoor plants: nights are still below the 50–55°F that fruit set needs.

When do you plant tomatoes in Southern California?

The UC window for the south coast, which runs from San Luis Obispo County south, is April through mid-July. Near the coast, frost is rare enough that the season is limited by cooling nights rather than cold, and a June or early July planting can ripen into the autumn. Inland, in the San Fernando, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino basins, treat the interior-valley dates as your starting point and expect a hot midsummer gap.

When do you plant tomatoes in the Bay Area?

UC's table puts the north and north coast region, which covers Monterey County northwards, in May. Fog-belt gardens are usually waiting for nights to hold above 50–55°F, not for a frost date. Inland Bay Area valleys behind the fog line, such as Santa Rosa and Ukiah, warm earlier and can be ready sooner.

When are tomatoes planted in the Central Valley?

March through May, according to UC's table for the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. February is the month to start seed indoors. The window is wide because the valley floor and the surrounding foothills differ so much: within an hour of Sacramento, the average first fall frost ranges from late September to mid-December.

Why do my California tomatoes stop setting fruit in summer?

Heat interferes with pollination. UC's figures put the shutdown at 100°F for flowers, with day temperatures over 90°F and low humidity hampering fruit set, and nights above 75°F interfering with pollen tube growth. Plants usually resume setting fruit when the nights cool in late summer or early fall.

How late can you plant tomatoes in California?

Work backwards from what ends your season: frost in the north and interior, and cooling nights or heat on the coast and in the desert. A late planting needs a variety short enough to finish in the days you have left. On the south coast, UC's window stays open into mid-July, which is what makes a second harvest possible there.

Can you grow tomatoes year-round in California?

Not in most of the state. The desert valleys come closest, with a winter planting window and a summer shutdown. Coastal Southern California can keep plants alive through mild winters, but fruit set still depends on nights warm enough and light strong enough, so production is seasonal even where the plants survive.

Sources used for this guide

The guidance here draws on the references listed below.

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