Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant black pepper is to look at the USDA zone info for Los Lunas.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

Since black pepper are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Los Lunas 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. If you wait any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Los Lunas. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Los Lunas is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Los Lunas there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your black pepper in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Los Lunas

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 Los Lunas

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Lunas.