One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 Chapel Hill should be read to estimate when it's possible to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Chapel Hill 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chapel Hill the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chapel Hill and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chapel Hill you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chapel Hill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Chapel Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chapel Hill.