When to Plant Squash in Pleasant Hill, IA

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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Pleasant Hill it's a good idea to determine when you can plant squash.


Planting Calendar for Squash

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

It's not a good idea to plant squash until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant squash in Pleasant Hill 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your squash indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Pleasant Hill the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Pleasant Hill is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pleasant Hill last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your squash if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pleasant Hill

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 Pleasant Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Pleasant Hill.