Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant gherkins is to look at the USDA zone info for Signal Hill.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Signal Hill 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Signal Hill. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Signal Hill and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Signal Hill there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Signal Hill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Signal Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Signal Hill.