Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Alpine can be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant gherkins until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Alpine 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 fully mature. Starting your gherkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Alpine. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpine and it is different every year. Half of the time in Alpine you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alpine

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 Alpine

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