One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cucumbers in Rochester should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

Cucumbers are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must 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 Rochester 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 fully mature. If you are starting your cucumbers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochester. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cucumbers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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