One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant black pepper in New Bedford can be figured out by checking out 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant black pepper until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in New Bedford 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. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Bedford the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for New Bedford may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Bedford it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Bedford

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 New Bedford

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Bedford.