When to plant cucumbers in Besançon: 3 June – 3 September

In Besançon, cucumber: sow for seedlings from 15 April to 6 August; plant into a greenhouse from 13 May to 3 September; plant out into open ground from 3 June to 3 September. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Gamm Vert (garden centre, 8 km) and Courbet (garden centre, 11 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Cucumber in Besançon: soil, season and weather

In Besançon the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 12 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the cucumber card — only around 3 June, 52 days later.

Last spring frost	12 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	3 June, 52 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	13 May – 3 September; May outside: 9.5 °C at night, 18.7 °C by day; card 18–25 °C
First autumn frost	18 November, 168 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	34
First harvest, if planted in this window	7 July – 7 October
Days left for picking	134
Daylight	14:40 on 6 May, 15:42 on 3 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 2 days; the driest month, August, has 11 rainy days

The same dates in Besançon hold for Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Cucumber in Besançon: care after planting

Planted on 3 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

10 June — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of cucumber to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Besançon during the cucumber season

No month of the season averages above the cucumber card's 18–35 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 25.7 °C. Months that stay below 18 °C even by day on average: October (16.7 °C) and November (10.2 °C). Nights average below 18 °C in every month of the season, from 3.7 °C to 15.6 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	24	14.3	113	14	15:54
July	25.6	15.5	87	12	15:34
August	25.7	15.6	78	11	14:17
September	21.5	12.2	87	12	12:37
October	16.7	8.7	118	13	10:56
November	10.2	3.7	118	15	9:22

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Cucumber in nearby cities

Around Besançon, Dijon is 3 days earlier and Fribourg 18 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Dijon	74 km	31 May – 4 September	3 days earlier
Neuchâtel	75 km	6 June – 13 September	3 days later
Lausanne	93 km	19 June – 5 September	16 days later
Fribourg	99 km	21 June – 22 August	18 days later
Mulhouse	113 km	1 June – 2 September	2 days earlier
Bern	113 km	21 June – 19 August	18 days later

Where to buy cucumber plants and seeds near Besançon

Buy plants ready to set out from 3 June to 3 September (from 13 May to 3 September for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 15 April to 6 August. Within 15 km of Besançon OpenStreetMap lists 9 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 1 plant nursery, 7 markets and 11 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026).

Gamm Vert — garden centre
Mon–Sat 09:00–12:00, 14:00–18:30 · 8 km
Courbet — garden centre
Rue de la Chirette 33 · 11 km
Marché bio de Tarragnoz — market
Place du Jura, 25000 Besançon · May–Oct Tue 17:00–20:30 · 2 km
Halles Beaux-Arts — Comptoirs Bisontins — market
Tue–Thu 07:00–14:00; Fri, Sat 08:00–13:00; Sun 08:00–13:00; Mon closed · 1 km

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.

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