The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when you can plant black pepper in Mattoon by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

You really shouldn't plant black pepper until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Mattoon 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mattoon. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mattoon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mattoon last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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