Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant gherkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Irvine.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Irvine 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. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Irvine. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Irvine is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Irvine you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Irvine

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 Irvine

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