One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins is to check out the USDA zone info for Escondido.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Pumpkins require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Escondido 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Escondido. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Escondido is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Escondido last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Escondido

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 Escondido

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