When to Plant Pumpkins in Newton, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant pumpkins in Newton can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pumpkins
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pumpkins
Probably not a good time to plant pumpkins

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Newton 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Newton. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Newton is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Newton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Newton

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