One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Piedmont it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant black pepper until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Piedmont 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. If you wait any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Piedmont. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Piedmont may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Piedmont last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Piedmont

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 Piedmont

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