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.

In Cortland you can estimate when to plant zucchini by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

Since zucchini are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Cortland 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your zucchini indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cortland. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cortland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cortland it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your zucchini in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cortland

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 Cortland

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