Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant gherkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Florence.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Florence 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 fully mature. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Florence. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Florence is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Florence there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Florence

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