One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 Rafael can be used to figure out 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 has passed.

You really shouldn't plant black pepper until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in San Rafael 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Rafael. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Rafael and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in San Rafael there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your black pepper in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Rafael

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 Rafael

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