One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Oelwein can be read to estimate when it's possible 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 should not plant gherkins until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Oelwein 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oelwein the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oelwein is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oelwein you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oelwein

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 Oelwein

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