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.

The best time to plant black pepper in Chester can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

You really shouldn't plant black pepper until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Chester 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Chester is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Chester there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

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 Chester

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