When to Plant Pumpkins in Kelso, WA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant pumpkins by referring to the USDA zone info for Kelso.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pumpkins
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pumpkins
Probably not a good time to plant pumpkins

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Kelso is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Kelso the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Kelso is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Kelso you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kelso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Kelso

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Kelso.