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.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant gherkins is to use the USDA zone info for Erie.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Erie 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Erie. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Erie is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Erie you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

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 Erie

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