Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant black pepper in Potsdam should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

You should not plant black pepper until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Potsdam is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Potsdam. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Potsdam is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Potsdam you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your black pepper if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Potsdam

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Potsdam

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