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 USDA zone info for Columbia should be used to estimate when it's the best time to plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Black pepper are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Columbia 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your black pepper if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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