One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant cucumbers is to check out the USDA zone info for Watsonville.

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's important 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 Watsonville 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. If you wait any later than that and your cucumbers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cucumbers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Watsonville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Watsonville and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Watsonville you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your cucumbers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watsonville

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 Watsonville

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