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

The first opportunity to plant gherkins in Richmond should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You can not plant gherkins until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richmond and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.