One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when you can plant gherkins is to consult the USDA zone info for Spearfish.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Spearfish 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Spearfish the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Spearfish and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Spearfish you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Spearfish

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Spearfish

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