One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first opportunity to plant gherkins in Carpinteria can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You should not plant gherkins until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Carpinteria 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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 January 31 in Carpinteria. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Carpinteria is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carpinteria you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carpinteria

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 Carpinteria

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