One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant gherkins by looking at the USDA zone info for Machesney Park.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

Frost tolerance for gherkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Gherkins do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Machesney Park is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Machesney Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Machesney Park is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Machesney Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Machesney Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Machesney Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Machesney Park.