One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Berkeley it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Since black pepper require warm weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Berkeley is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Berkeley. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Berkeley is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Berkeley you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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