One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Louisville you can determine when it's a good idea to plant black pepper by looking at 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 when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Louisville 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. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Louisville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Louisville is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Louisville there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Louisville

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 Louisville

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