Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant pumpkins in Cedar Rapids can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Cedar Rapids is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Cedar Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Cedar Rapids it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Cedar Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Rapids.