One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant black pepper is to examine the USDA zone info for Dickinson.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

You really shouldn't plant black pepper until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Dickinson 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Dickinson. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dickinson is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Dickinson you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dickinson

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 Dickinson

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