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 making a decision about when it's the best time to plant pumpkins is to look at the USDA zone info for Watsonville.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Watsonville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Watsonville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Watsonville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Watsonville there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watsonville

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 Watsonville

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