Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when to plant gherkins by checking out the USDA zone info for Madera.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Gherkins require warm weather which means 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 Madera 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. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Madera. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Madera is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Madera it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madera

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 Madera

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