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

In Aiken you can determine when it's a good idea to plant gherkins by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Aiken 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 really do well. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Aiken the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Aiken is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Aiken there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Aiken

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Aiken

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