When to Plant Zucchini in Cherokee, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Cherokee can be read to estimate when to plant zucchini.


Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant zucchini until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant zucchini
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant zucchini
Probably not a good time to plant zucchini

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Cherokee 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your zucchini indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cherokee. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cherokee and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cherokee it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your zucchini in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cherokee

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 Cherokee

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