One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Imperial you should be able to estimate when you can plant pumpkins.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Imperial 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Imperial. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Imperial and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Imperial you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Imperial

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 Imperial

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