One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Charlestown should be read to determine when it's the best time to plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Since black pepper are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Charlestown 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. If you wait any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Charlestown. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Charlestown is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charlestown you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your black pepper in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charlestown

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 Charlestown

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