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 common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant gherkins is to use the USDA zone info for Smithfield.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Smithfield 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smithfield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smithfield and it is different every year. Half of the time in Smithfield it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithfield

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