One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Metropolis you can estimate when to plant gherkins 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 has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Metropolis 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Metropolis. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Metropolis and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Metropolis last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Metropolis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Metropolis

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