Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 USDA zone info for Maquoketa can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant pumpkins.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Maquoketa 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. 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 Maquoketa. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Maquoketa is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Maquoketa you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Maquoketa

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 Maquoketa

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