The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant gherkins is to check out the USDA zone info for Columbus.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Gherkins are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Columbus 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbus the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Columbus may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbus

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