When to Plant Gherkins in Anchorage, AK

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Anchorage you should be able to determine when to plant gherkins.


Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

It's a bad idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gherkins
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gherkins
Probably not a good time to plant gherkins

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Anchorage is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Anchorage. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Anchorage is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Anchorage it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Anchorage.