One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Santa Cruz can be read to estimate when it's the best time to plant cucumbers.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

Cucumbers do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cucumbers in Santa Cruz 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 cucumbers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cucumbers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cucumbers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cucumbers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

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 Santa Cruz

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Cruz.