Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 to plant pumpkins is to look at the USDA zone info for Porterville.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Porterville 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. If you wait any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Porterville the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Porterville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Porterville it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Porterville

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 Porterville

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