One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Ontario it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You can not plant gherkins until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Ontario 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. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Ontario. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Ontario may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ontario last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ontario

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ontario

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