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

In Mountainside you can estimate when it's the best time to plant black pepper by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Black pepper are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Mountainside 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mountainside the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mountainside is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mountainside last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mountainside

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mountainside

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