When to Plant Gherkins in Paris, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when you can plant gherkins is to look at the USDA zone info for Paris.


Planting Calendar for Gherkins

Frost tolerance for gherkins: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since gherkins require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gherkins
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gherkins
Probably not a good time to plant gherkins

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Paris 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. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Paris. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Paris and it is different every year. Half of the time in Paris it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Paris

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 Paris

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