One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The best time to plant black pepper in South El Monte should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Since black pepper are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in South El Monte 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in South El Monte. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South El Monte is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your black pepper if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

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 South El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South El Monte.