How to Grow Cucumbers in the USA
On this page
- Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Regional Planting Calendar
- Greenhouse or Outdoors? The Trick to Growing Cucumbers
- Growth Stages
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Harvest & Storage
- The Tomato-Cucumber Myth -- and What Coffee Grounds A...
- Diseases
- Pests
- Plan your Cucumbers planting
- Growing Cucumber in another region
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
In the US, cucumbers go in the ground early March to late March, and are ready to harvest 50–70 days after planting.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the USA: there are 7 separate regional sowing windows, ranging from early February in Deep South & Gulf Coast to early May in Intermountain West.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early March to late March
- Ready in
- 50–70 days
- Site
- 6+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–6.5
- Biggest risk
- Powdery mildew
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
9 sources cited · Verified
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Regional Planting Calendar
| Region | Sow |
|---|---|
| Pacific Northwest derived | early March to late March |
| Northeast & New England derived | early April to late April |
| Lower Midwest & Ohio Valley derived | mid April to early May |
| Intermountain West derived | early May to late May |
| N. Plains & Upper Midwest derived | late April to mid May |
| Mid-Atlantic & Upper South derived | early April to late April |
| Deep South & Gulf Coast derived | early February to late February |
Rows marked derived are interpolated between regions our sources do state, because no source we consulted gives a figure for that region specifically. They are deliberately wider to reflect that uncertainty.
Pacific Northwest - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 8 March (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 8 March to 29 March. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Northeast & New England - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 6 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 6 April to 27 April. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Lower Midwest & Ohio Valley - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 16 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 16 April to 7 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Intermountain West - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 6 May (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 6 May to 27 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
N. Plains & Upper Midwest - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 25 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 25 April to 16 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Mid-Atlantic & Upper South - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 4 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 4 April to 25 April. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Deep South & Gulf Coast - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Plant seed or transplants after the fear of frost has passed, and the soil temperature has reached 70°F. Seeds will not germinate at soil temperatures below 50°F - the soil thermometer, not the date, is the real gate. Applied to a mean last frost of 2 February (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 2 February to 23 February. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Greenhouse or Outdoors? The Trick to Growing Cucumbers
Both work, but they're different plants in practice. Greenhouse (indoor) types are smooth-skinned and all-female, cropping earlier and more heavily under cover; outdoor "ridge" types have tougher, often knobbly skins and are bred to tolerate the cooler, more variable conditions outside. Buy seed labelled for the situation you're growing in -- an indoor variety sown outdoors won't fruit as reliably.
The real trick RHS keeps coming back to is consistency: sow under cover at 70°F (21°C), don't plant out until frost risk has fully passed, and then water evenly -- erratic watering, more than almost anything else, is what causes bitter fruit and blossom end rot.
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing & Germination | 0 | Cucumbers are almost always started under cover. SOWING DEPTH: sow one seed 1-2cm (half to three-quarter inch) deep in the centre of a 10cm pot of peat-free compost, placing the seed on its edge (side). TIMING: heated greenhouse mid-February to mid-March; unheated greenhouse or polytunnel in April; outdoor (ridge) types in late April, or sown direct into their final positions in late May/early June (up to three seeds per station, thinned to the strongest). Germinate at about 21°C (70°F) in a heated propagator or a plastic bag on a warm windowsill; seedlings appear in one to two weeks. Never sow cold or early outdoors - the crop is frost-tender. |
| Planting Out & Training | 3 | Harden off greenhouse plants before moving to their final spot from late May; plant outdoor (ridge) cucumbers out only from early June once local temperatures are reliably above 12°C (53°F) and all frost has passed. SPACING: set plants 30cm (1ft) apart, or one per container at least 30cm wide and deep. Train the climbing stems up tall bamboo canes, strings or a wigwam, tying them in as they establish. Keep plants warm and sheltered; in the greenhouse aim for 64-77°F (18-25°C) and raise humidity in hot spells. |
| Flowering & Pollination | 6 | Cucumbers carry separate male and female flowers (the female has a tiny fruit behind the bloom). GREENHOUSE all-female F1 types set seedless fruit without pollination - remove any occasional male flowers, as pollination makes the fruit bitter and misshapen. RIDGE (outdoor) types need their male flowers for insect pollination, so leave them. Pinch out (stop) the growing tips to steer the plant: in the greenhouse pinch the main stem at the roof and side-shoots two leaves beyond a female flower; outdoors pinch the main stem once the plant has seven leaves. Begin high-potash (tomato) feeding as flowering starts. |
| Fruit Development | 7 | Fertilised (or, on all-female types, unpollinated) female flowers swell into fruit. This is the thirstiest stage: keep the soil or compost evenly moist, watering at the base to avoid wetting the leaves, and daily in hot weather - erratic watering causes bitter or misshapen fruit. Feed every 10-14 days with a high-potash liquid feed. Support heavy fruits and keep picking so the plant channels energy into new cucumbers rather than seed. |
| Harvest | 8 | Pick fruits young, while uniformly green and firm with a slightly rounded tip, before they yellow or swell (over-mature and yellowing cucumbers turn bitter and stop the plant cropping). Sizes at picking: mini types about 8cm (3in), small-fruited about 15cm (6in), full-sized 20-25cm (8-10in). Cut the stem cleanly with a knife or secateurs rather than pulling, and harvest every few days - regular picking keeps more fruit coming, from mid-summer to mid-autumn under glass and over a shorter season outdoors. Typical time from sowing to first harvest is about 50-70 days. Store cut cucumbers cool (about 45-50°F (7-10°C)) and humid for around a week. |
Soil & Growing Conditions
Harvest & Storage
The Tomato-Cucumber Myth -- and What Coffee Grounds Actually Do
Can tomatoes and cucumbers be planted together? Yes -- checked directly against Ask Extension's own companion-planting guidance, which finds no garden-planting incompatibility between them at all: "You can, but you need to make sure that you leave enough room... so they don't deprive each other of sun, water and nutrients." The "can't be planted together" idea most likely comes from a real but different fact: Purdue University's Vegetable Crops Hotline warns to "avoid stor[ing] cucumbers together with ethylene producing fruit such as ripening tomatoes" once harvested, since cucumbers are unusually ethylene-sensitive and spoil faster near them. That's a fridge rule, not a garden one -- the two plants grow fine side by side.
What do coffee grounds do? Less than the folklore suggests. Washington State University Extension tested this directly: used grounds are close to pH-neutral, not acidic as widely believed, and "fresh grounds are demonstrably phytotoxic to a variety of plants" -- WSU records "reduced seed germination and plant growth" where they've been used raw, and advises against them anywhere you're growing from seed. Composted (at no more than 20% of a compost pile) or used as a thin, covered layer, they're a fine soil amendment; sprinkled straight onto a seed bed, they can do more harm than good.
Diseases
Pests
Plan your Cucumbers planting
When to sow and plant Cucumbers depends on your own frost dates. Check the USA vegetable planting calendar, or the month-by-month guides that cover Cucumbers: February, March, May, July, October. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Cucumber in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
-
Bacterial wilt (no chemical control once infected; control cucumber beetles at first sign); powdery mildew at 50-90°F in dry weather with high humidity; downy mildew in moist conditions; gummy stem blight surviving on debris year to year, no resistant varieties, rotate to non-hosts such as corn for two or more years; anthracnose needing rainy cool weather for several days, overwintering on old vines, rotate three years; Alternaria leaf spot with bull's-eye rings at 60-90°F; Cercospora leaf spot at 79-90°F reinfecting new leaves every 7-10 days, rotate away from cucurbits 2-3 years; Fusarium wilt surviving in soil for many years with no chemical treatment.
These 4 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 9 sources behind this guide (Clemson Cooperative Extension, FAO EcoCrop, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and others) is in the references of our UK guide to cucumbers; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow cucumbers in the USA?
In Deep South & Gulf Coast, from early February. In Intermountain West, wait until early May. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow cucumbers?
Sow early February to late May, at around 70°F (21°C) for germination.
How long do cucumbers take to grow?
Typically 50–70 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH do cucumbers need?
A pH of about 6–6.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect cucumbers?
Our data links 8 diseases and 9 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Almost everything on this page resolves to your own frost dates rather than the calendar — the last spring frost moves by roughly two months between zone 3 and zone 10. The USA Garden Planner works from your zone so the timing is already decided before the season starts.
Get the USA Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for US growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against USDA hardiness-zone and frost-date data, with Cooperative Extension sources cited directly where one exists for a crop. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
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Last verified 2026-08-06
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