Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant cucumbers by looking at the USDA zone info for Merrillville.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

It's a bad idea to plant cucumbers until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cucumbers in Merrillville 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Merrillville. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Merrillville is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Merrillville last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cucumbers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrillville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrillville

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