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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for New London you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You can not plant gherkins until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in New London is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in New London. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for New London and it is different every year. Since half of the time in New London you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gherkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New London

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in New London

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New London.