Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Donaldsonville should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You should not plant gherkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Donaldsonville is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Donaldsonville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Donaldsonville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Donaldsonville you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Donaldsonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Donaldsonville

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