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.

The first chance to plant gherkins in Manchester can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

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

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Manchester 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. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Manchester. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Manchester

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