When to Plant Pumpkins in Beardstown, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant pumpkins by checking out the USDA zone info for Beardstown.


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 means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed 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 Beardstown 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 fully mature. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Beardstown the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Beardstown and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Beardstown there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Beardstown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Beardstown

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