The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant black pepper is to use the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

It's a bad idea to plant black pepper until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Oak Ridge 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 grow to maturity. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oak Ridge. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Oak Ridge may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Oak Ridge you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your black pepper if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Ridge

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 Oak Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Ridge.