One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant gherkins is to consult the USDA zone info for Mesquite.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm 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 Mesquite 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Mesquite. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mesquite may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mesquite last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mesquite

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 Mesquite

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