One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 USDA zone info for Mill Valley should be reviewed to figure out when you can plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Black pepper are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Mill Valley 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Mill Valley. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mill Valley is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mill Valley there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mill Valley

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 Mill Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mill Valley.