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.

In Harrisburg you can estimate when it's the best time to plant pumpkins by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You should not plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Harrisburg 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harrisburg. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Harrisburg may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisburg you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Harrisburg

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