One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant black pepper in Hartsville by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant black pepper until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Hartsville 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 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Hartsville. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hartsville and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Hartsville it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hartsville

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 Hartsville

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