Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant stevia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant stevia until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Big Stone Gap 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your stevia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Big Stone Gap. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Big Stone Gap it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your stevia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Big Stone Gap

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Stone Gap

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Stone Gap.