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.

You can estimate when to plant black pepper in East Chicago by reviewing 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 has passed.

Black pepper do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in East Chicago 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 is on April 15 in East Chicago. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for East Chicago is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in East Chicago you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your black pepper if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for East Chicago

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 Chicago

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