One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 USDA zone info for Bethalto can be reviewed to determine when you can plant pumpkins.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You should not plant pumpkins until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Bethalto 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bethalto. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bethalto is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bethalto there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bethalto

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 Bethalto

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