Stockton, CA · zone 9b · ~304 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Stockton.
In Stockton, the typical last spring frost lands around Feb 5 and the first fall frost around Dec 6, giving you about 304 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Stockton, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Jan 1 to Mar 3 | Feb 12 to Apr 14 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Jan 1 to Feb 12 | Sep 22 to Nov 21 |
| Carrot | — | Jan 1 to Jan 31 | Sep 10 to Oct 6 |
| Bush Bean | — | Feb 5 to Mar 28 | Aug 22 to Sep 24 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Feb 12 to May 14 | Aug 5 to Sep 5 |
| Pepper, bell | Jan 10 to Mar 3 | Feb 21 to Apr 14 | — |
| Kale | Nov 20 to Dec 15 | Jan 1 to Jan 26 | Sep 5 to Oct 21 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 1 to Jan 26 | Sep 22 to Nov 10 |
Stockton sits in Zone 9b, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Stockton garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 95202 in about 60 seconds.