Last and first frost dates in Cusco

When is the last frost in Cusco?

The last frost in Cusco usually comes around 3 August: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 13 July, while corn waits until 10 August. The first autumn frost follows around 15 June, about 316 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Cusco

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo).

Frost dates near Cusco

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Ayacucho (5 August) and latest in Juliaca (17 November).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Cusco

Within 15 km of Cusco OpenStreetMap lists 9 farm-supply shops and 23 markets (collected 20 October 2026). The nearest market to the city centre is Mercado Wanchaq, 1 km away.

• Mercado Wanchaq — market
  Avenida Garcilaso · 06:00–18:00 · 1 km
• Centro Comercial El Molino I — market
  Jirón Gamarra · Mon–Sun 09:00–21:00 · 1 km
• Centro Comercial América — market
  Mon–Sat 08:00–20:00 · 1 km
• Mercado de Rosaspata — market
  Mon–Sun 07:00–15:00 · 1 km
• Ccascaparo's Market — market
  Calle Cascaparo Chico 700, 08002 · Mon–Sun 04:00–21:00 · 2 km
• Mercado de San Blas — market
  Mon–Sun 08:00–16:00 · 2 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Cusco
• Selling your own harvest in Peru

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Cusco by month

Average weather in Cusco over 2016–2025: the warmest month is September. No month averages 20 °C by day; the warmest, September, reaches 17 °C. No month averages below 0 °C at night; the coldest nights, in July, average 2 °C. About 973 mm of rain falls in a year, on 180 days; January is the wettest month (187 mm) and June the driest (6 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).