The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant gherkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Cocoa.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You really shouldn't plant gherkins until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Cocoa is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Cocoa. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cocoa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cocoa last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cocoa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Cocoa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cocoa.