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.

The USDA zone info for Los Altos can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You should not plant gherkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Los Altos 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Los Altos. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Los Altos is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Los Altos last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Los Altos

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Altos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Altos.