When to Plant Seeds Central Coast California - On a Balcony

[xtrace]

What time of year should I start planting my seeds for being in southern california. I am looking at carrots, tomatoes, chiles, and herbs. Maybe some brussel sprouts. It will be all container gardening. Off a small balcony. Also
do I need to compost or a simple organic soil. Thankx.

[rainbowgardener]

Here's a planting guide for zones 9-10, which I imagine is you

https://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-9-10-planting-schedule

(it can be reset for other zones, if 9-10 isn't you)

Our California based moderator always recommends the Sunset Western Garden Book, which has lots of information tailored to specific growing areas, whether coastal or inland or whatever. You can get older editions very cheap on Amazon.

For starting seeds you need something much finer than compost or soil. You want potting soil, potting mix, seed starting mix, etc. Potting soil is the most general and cheapest of those and it works fine for me.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Screened compost is nice...

We like compost...

HG

[rot]

..

I'm thinking about planting in February. Depending on on our overnight lows then. About a hundred miles south of you and 15 miles inland with some desert influence.

Ask someone else about the soil.

to sense

..

[mrsgreenthumbs]

xtrace- I am a central coast gardener as well! (Santa Maria here, howdy neighbor!) I have gardened in San Diego, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Texas, and Hawaii but mostly right here in the SM valley and there are SERIOUS difference between "guidelines" about zones and what not and simply being here on the central coast. The central coast has it's own weather that is honestly just weird. We never really get winter, if gardeners wanted to we could produce summer time vegetables all year long here without building hot houses, and honestly we get to plant and what not a LOT sooner than in other areas of California. I started my seeds in early Jan last year and had no losses that I could tell I was giving away seedlings left and right! In fact I potted cucumber's this last Friday and yesterday they were beginning to peek their pretty little heads out of the soil. Now year before last I had no luck till almost april. Seasons are all bunched together here, you get a cold morning a hot after noon and a foggy damp evening all in one day and honestly it just takes trial and error and a scoch of patience mixed in to wait for the right moment to plant. I would say for sure if you have not planted yet to stick those suckers in the ground! I started my seeds (spinach, carrots, onions starts, and a bunch of other seeds out side almost a month and a half ago and had no losses. All of them are growing like (dare I say it?) weeds!

[cynthia_h]

You really do need to check out your Sunset climate zone; all will become clear. The USDA Hardiness zone system lets you know which plants will survive a given winter temp. Sunset climate zones also allow for summer heat, annual precipitation or lack thereof, prevailing winds, altitude, prevailing humidity or lack thereof, latitude (day length), and yet other variables. I usually make a point of saying that, while there are only 11 USDA Hardiness zones in all of North America, there are 50 Sunset climate zones in North America (Zones 1 through 45, Alaska 1 - 3, Hawaii 1 and 2).

Sunset's Western Garden Book will describe your climate zone (there are maps, so you can find yours and the ones around it, if you live on a boundary) and provide planting dates/growing season.

Then, in the alphabetical section (usually by scientific name except when I know the scientific name--then it's by common name *sigh*), specific cultivars for specific zones are given!

The Sunset book (as it's usually referred to) is available at the library, at bookstores (remember them?), hardware stores, garden-supply stores, online, used copies online (8th ed. is the most recent, but previous ones have the same climate-zone system), and probably in other places as well.

Sunset's Western Garden Book. Applicable to all western states and provinces.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Tigerlilylynn]

So THAT'S what sunset zones are about. I managed to quickly look mine up and miss the explanation. A lesser concern in the armpit of the universe but a real boon to warm weather people.

[cynthia_h]

So THAT'S what sunset zones are about. I managed to quickly look mine up and miss the explanation. A lesser concern in the armpit of the universe but a real boon to warm weather people.

Not to drag this thread completely off-topic, but surely you don't believe that the 45 zones in North America are all in warm-weather areas? Or that the 3 zones in Alaska are in warm-weather areas of...Alaska?

The Sunset zones are important everywhere; it's just that Sunset's National Garden Book was published in 1997 and not revised. I don't know where Stow, Ohio, is with relation to the maps, but there are four Sunset climate zones in Ohio: 35, 39, 40, and 41. I just read through their descriptions, and the growing seasons vary from

"mid- to late May through mid-September or soon thereafter" (120 - 140 days, by my count) (Zone 40)
120 - 180 days (Zone 41)
180 - 210 days (Zone 39)
150 - 240 days (Zone 35)

If I hadn't seen these areas sitting right next to each other on a map, those growing seasons wouldn't make any sense at all. But I read the descriptions and the factors the growing seasons are based on (20 years of data, minimum, among other things). Note: There have been other, more detailed discussions of Sunset climate zones here at THG; put in "Sunset climate zone" to find them.

It's also very difficult for me to believe that anyplace John "Appleseed" Chapman gifted with apple trees is the armpit of anywhere.

Cynthia

[Tigerlilylynn]

I certainly wasn't trying to touch a nerve there.

By that description it sounded more relevant to the warmer ones than the cooler ones as we will suffer more from frost than too much heat. We get "snow" days here because the windchill gets too low, not heat stroke risk days.

I suppose the reason I didn't delve into sunset zones to begin with is that I noticed that the other zone guide is just a set of guidelines. While every book and site I look at has us in zone 5, none of them can agree on our frost date because it's too large an area to average. Heck, even the sites that discuss city to city frost dates can't agree on Akron. As for the variation, I assume that's the southwest plains, southeast Appalachia, the north dealing with Lake Erie, and the more urban remnant in the central area. Elevation and moisture issues, yada yada.

We're from Michigan, we're obligated to hate on Ohio though I do not at all believe that Cleveland is worse off than both Detroit and Flint. If we win at any competition it's the most horrific economympics.