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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon you should be able to determine when to plant black pepper.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant black pepper until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Mount Vernon 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your black pepper indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Mount Vernon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Vernon you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your black pepper if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

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 Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.