When to Plant Zucchini in Rochester, NY

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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.

A way of estimating when to plant zucchini is to consult the USDA zone info for Rochester.

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Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

You should not 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 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your zucchini indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your zucchini in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.