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.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Zone 9b can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather it's 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 Zone 9b is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Zone 9b. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 9b is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 9b you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gherkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 9b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9b.