Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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 common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant cucumbers is to use the USDA zone info for Zone 6a.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

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

It's a bad 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 Zone 6a 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. Any later than that and 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 6a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6a is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 6a you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cucumbers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

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 Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.