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.

You will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant cucumbers by checking out the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

Cucumbers are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cucumbers in Waterloo 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 cucumbers and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waterloo the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Waterloo there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cucumbers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterloo

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