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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dixon.

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 has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Dixon 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. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Dixon. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dixon is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Dixon there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dixon

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 Dixon

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