One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Port Royal can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Port Royal 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 little bit earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Port Royal. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Port Royal and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Port Royal last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Royal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Port Royal

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Royal.