When to Plant Cucumbers in California: Planting Months by Region
One California calendar, one crop: cucumbers, with the source’s dates left as printed and NOAA frost dates for Sacramento Executive Airport, Santa Rosa Sonoma County Airport, and Imperial County Airport.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
UC Master Gardener Program gives cucumbers their own row, with dates for 4 regions. The source gives months or relative shifts rather than calendar days; in order, North & North Coast (April-June), South Coast (April-Jun), Interior Valleys (April-July), and Desert Valleys (Feb-May; Aug). The page’s note says planting dates are for seed unless noted otherwise.
What UC Master Gardener Program prints for cucumbers
The page files cucumbers as a warm-season crop.
| Region | Recommended planting months |
|---|---|
| North & North Coast | April-June |
| South Coast | April-Jun |
| Interior Valleys | April-July |
| Desert Valleys | Feb-May; Aug |
Reading the UC Master Gardener Program table
The UC Master Gardener Program’s planting table covers four regions: North and North Coast (Monterey County north), South Coast (San Luis Obispo County south), the Interior Valleys and the Desert Valleys (Imperial and Coachella). It prints months rather than days, and some cells hold two ranges separated by a semicolon without saying which is spring and which is fall, so this page shows them exactly as printed.
Starting cucumbers indoors
None of the figures in this section belong to California. They are general: UNH, for one, puts the time from seed to transplant at 3 to 4 weeks.
Only UNH puts a number of weeks on cucumbers; the Minnesota row in the table is a handling tip, not a schedule.
In the garden itself, UNH sows cucumbers once the soil reaches 70 °F, which a soil thermometer answers better than any calendar.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire | 3 to 4 weeks from seed to transplant; 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost is safe to set out |
| University of Minnesota | Cucumbers and squash transplant poorly, so raise them in fiber or paper pots that break down in the soil |
Frost dates for California cities
The dates come straight from NOAA’s frost and freeze normals at the 32°F threshold; the frost dates tool shows earlier and later odds for the same stations.
Regions in the last column come from the source’s wording, never from our reading of a map.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in California’s calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Executive Airport, California | February 2 | December 2 | Interior Valleys |
| Santa Rosa Sonoma County Airport, California | March 2 | November 20 | North & North Coast |
| Imperial County Airport, California | January 14 | December 24 | Desert Valleys |
Worked example
NOAA’s normals for Sacramento Executive Airport, California give February 2 as the even-odds date of the last spring 32°F night, and December 2 as the even-odds first fall one.
Only months are given for Interior Valleys: April to July. The frost date of February 2 lands before the window opens.
This is arithmetic on two printed figures, not a forecast: it moves with the year, and your own garden can sit weeks away from the station. Look up the station nearest you in the frost dates tool and repeat the subtraction.
Before you rely on these dates
The page suggests contacting experienced gardeners in your community to find more precise dates.
Pencil the printed dates into a calendar, then adjust them after you have watched your own garden for a season.
Sources (4)
- UC Master Gardener Program, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Time of planting (table adapted from the California Master Gardener Handbook, Table 13.2) ucanr.edu
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals (frost/freeze probabilities by station) ncei.noaa.gov
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden (fact sheet) extension.unh.edu
- University of Minnesota Extension, Starting seeds indoors (page reviewed 2026) extension.umn.edu