When to plant cucumbers in New Zealand: 1 December – 5 April

Cucumber in New Zealand: plant out into open ground from 1 December to 5 April; the window opens earliest in Christchurch and closes latest in Palmerston North (10 cities).

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.

Planting window by climate zone

Zone	Cities	Window
270 frost-free days or more	Christchurch, Hamilton (New Zealand), Palmerston North, Invercargill, Nelson, Blenheim	1 December – 5 April
210–269 frost-free days	Rotorua, Queenstown, Timaru	10 December – 19 March
150–209 frost-free days	Dunedin	3 December – 6 March
Frost without a regular season	Wellington, Tauranga, Napier, Gisborne	from 17 December

Cucumber: the window in each city

City	Window	Zone
Napier	from 3 November	Frost without a regular season
Gisborne	from 7 November	Frost without a regular season
Christchurch	1 December – 20 March	270 frost-free days or more
Dunedin	3 December – 6 March	150–209 frost-free days
Hamilton (New Zealand)	3 December – 30 March	270 frost-free days or more
Invercargill	4 December – 23 March	270 frost-free days or more
Palmerston North	4 December – 5 April	270 frost-free days or more
Tauranga	from 4 December	Frost without a regular season
Rotorua	10 December – 10 March	210–269 frost-free days
Blenheim	11 December – 15 March	270 frost-free days or more
Queenstown	16 December – 4 March	210–269 frost-free days
Wellington	from 17 December	Frost without a regular season
Timaru	19 December – 19 March	210–269 frost-free days
Nelson	20 December – 5 April	270 frost-free days or more