One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first chance to plant gherkins in Ponchatoula can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Ponchatoula 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ponchatoula. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ponchatoula is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ponchatoula there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ponchatoula

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ponchatoula

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