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.

A way of determining when to plant black pepper is to consult the USDA zone info for Fergus Falls.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant black pepper until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Fergus Falls is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait 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 Fergus Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fergus Falls is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fergus Falls it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fergus Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Fergus Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fergus Falls.