One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Hanford you can figure out when it's the best time to plant gherkins by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Gherkins are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Hanford is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 really do well. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Hanford. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hanford and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Hanford you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hanford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Hanford

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