One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant cucumbers is to look at the USDA zone info for Jefferson.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

It's not a good idea to plant cucumbers until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cucumbers in Jefferson 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cucumbers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Jefferson the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Jefferson and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Jefferson you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cucumbers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jefferson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Jefferson

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