One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first opportunity to plant gherkins in Columbia should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You really shouldn't plant gherkins until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Columbia 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. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbia the average date of last frost happens on April 15. 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 Columbia may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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