One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 San Mateo should be reffered to in order to estimate when 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.

Since black pepper require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in San Mateo 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 grow to maturity. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Mateo the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Mateo and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in San Mateo last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to cover your black pepper if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Mateo

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 San Mateo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Mateo.