I am trying to set the number of tick marks for both the x and y axis to 12. However, only the y axis is being set and the x axis stays the same. I am using the locator_params to set both axis.

plt.locator_params(axis='both', nbins=12)

from pathlib import Path
import csv
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from datetime import datetime

path = Path('data_visualization/weather_data/death_valley_2021_simple.csv')
lines = path.read_text(encoding='utf-8').splitlines()

reader = csv.reader(lines)
header_row = next(reader)

# Extract dates and high temperatures.
dates, highs, lows = [], [], []
for row in reader:
    current_date= datetime.strptime(row[2], '%Y-%m-%d')
    try:
        high = int(row[3])
        low = int(row[4])
    except ValueError:
        print(f"Missing data for {current_date}")
    else:
        dates.append(current_date)
        highs.append(high)
        lows.append(low)

# Plot the high temperatures.
plt.style.use('seaborn-v0_8')
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(dates, highs, color='red', alpha=0.5)
ax.plot(dates, lows, color='blue', alpha=0.5)
ax.fill_between(dates, highs, lows, facecolor='blue', alpha=0.1)

# Format the plot.
title = "Daily High and Low Temperatures, 2021nDeath Valley, CA"
ax.set_title(title, fontsize=20)
ax.set_xlabel('', fontsize=16)

fig.autofmt_xdate()
ax.set_ylabel("Temperature (F)", fontsize=16)
ax.tick_params(labelsize=16)
plt.locator_params(axis='both', nbins=12)

plt.show()

I tried setting just the x axis to 12 and still nothing worked. Would it be because its a date and not an integer? Any help would be appreciated.

sample data from csv file:

"STATION","NAME","DATE","TMAX","TMIN","TOBS"
"USC00042319","DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CA US","2021-01-01","71","51","56"
"USC00042319","DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CA US","2021-01-02","67","42","51"
"USC00042319","DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CA US","2021-01-03","66","41","49"