The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant pumpkins by checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You should not plant pumpkins until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Santa Monica 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 fully mature. 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 Santa Monica the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Monica may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Monica you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Monica.