Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Richmond should be reviewed to estimate when you can plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Black pepper require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Richmond 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. If you wait any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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