One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant pumpkins is to refer to the USDA zone info for Hayward.

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.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Hayward is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 really do well. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hayward the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hayward and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hayward you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pumpkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hayward

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Hayward

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