One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant squash is to use the USDA zone info for Shasta Lake.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

Squash 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 squash in Shasta Lake 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your squash indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Shasta Lake. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

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 Shasta Lake and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Shasta Lake you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your squash in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shasta Lake

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 Shasta Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Shasta Lake.