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

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant gherkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Long Beach.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Long Beach is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Long Beach the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Long Beach is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Long Beach it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.