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

In Forest you can figure out when to plant gherkins by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You can 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 Forest 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. 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 March 15 in Forest. 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 is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Forest and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest

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