Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant gherkins is to examine the USDA zone info for East Peoria.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in East Peoria 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. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Peoria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for East Peoria is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in East Peoria last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for East Peoria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in East Peoria

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Peoria.