One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 can estimate when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins in Capitola by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Capitola. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Capitola and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Capitola you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Capitola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Capitola

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