One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Cleveland you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Cleveland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Cleveland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cleveland is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cleveland you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cleveland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Cleveland

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