When to plant zucchini in Rochester: 2 June – 26 August

In Rochester, zucchini: sow for seedlings from 21 April to 5 August; plant into a greenhouse from 12 May to 26 August; plant out into open ground from 2 June to 26 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Stem Plants (garden centre, 2 km) and The Garden Factory (garden centre, 7 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Zucchini in Rochester: soil, season and weather

In Rochester the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the zucchini card — only around 2 June, 43 days later.

Last spring frost	20 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	2 June, 43 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	12 November, 163 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	36
First harvest, if planted in this window	8 July – 1 October
Days left for picking	127
Daylight	14:32 on 12 May, 15:10 on 2 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, September, has 10 rainy days

The same dates in Rochester hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Zucchini in Rochester: care after planting

Planted on 2 June: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Pests and diseases of zucchini to watch for:

Weather in Rochester during the zucchini season

About 558 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (76 mm) and October the wettest (123 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	24	15.6	79	11	15:22
July	27.2	19.2	98	12	15:05
August	26.2	18.6	92	13	13:59
September	23.2	15.3	76	10	12:33
October	16.9	9.8	123	14	11:06
November	9.4	2.9	90	14	9:44

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Zucchini in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant zucchini earlier than Rochester; the closest date is in Hamilton, 1 day earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Buffalo	106 km	29 May – 24 August	4 days earlier
Syracuse (United States)	121 km	31 May – 20 August	2 days earlier
Ithaca	121 km	31 May – 22 August	2 days earlier
Toronto	153 km	29 May – 13 August	4 days earlier
Hamilton	181 km	1 June – 21 August	1 day earlier
Erie	231 km	30 May – 2 September	3 days earlier

Where to buy zucchini plants and seeds near Rochester

Buy plants ready to set out from 2 June to 26 August (from 12 May to 26 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 21 April to 5 August. Within 15 km of Rochester OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 7 markets and 2 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Kalir Farms — farm shop
14 km
The Garden Factory — garden centre
Buffalo Road 2126, 14624 Rochester · Mon–Sun 09:00–16:00 · 7 km · gardenfactoryny.com
Stem Plants — garden centre
Monroe Avenue 149, 14607 Rochester · 2 km · stemplantsrochester.com
Van Putte Gardens — garden centre
North Avenue 136, 14626 Rochester · 12 km · vanputte.com

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.

Questions