Germination Period

• Cucumbers often take up to 10 days to germinate if they are direct planted. The exact germination period will change depending on the variety of cucumber and also on the soil and air temperature. The germination time does not include the amount of time needed for the cucumber to sprout and break the surface of the ground. In some cases, this can take more than two weeks from the planting date.
  
  

Last Frost Date

• Cucumbers cannot tolerate even a light frost, so they must be planted a minimum of three to four weeks after the last spring frost date. Planting cucumbers too early --- either as seeds or seedlings --- will likely cause the plant to die. Cucumbers can be direct seeded into the ground up until the mid-summer. If you are using seedlings, you can plant cucumbers up to two months before the first expected frost date in the fall.
  
  

Soil Temperature

• Cucumbers are a warm-weather vegetable, so they require comfortably temperate weather to grow. Soil temperatures need to be at a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit before cucumbers can comfortably thrive. Air temperatures need to be at a regular 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Ideally, the temperatures of both the soil and the air will be warmer than either 60 or 70 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.
  
  

Plastic Mulch

• Using black plastic mulch to cover the soil around the cucumber plant can move up planting times by several weeks, depending on the regional climate. All danger of frost must still have passed, and the air temperatures should be close to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and soil temperatures around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.