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

You will be able to figure out when you can plant gherkins by looking at the USDA zone info for Sparta.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Sparta is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Sparta. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sparta may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Sparta you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Sparta

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