When to Plant Pumpkins in Jacksonville, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Jacksonville you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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 Jacksonville 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 fully mature. 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 Jacksonville. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Jacksonville is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

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 Jacksonville

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