Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Columbia City should be reviewed to figure out 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 the last frost has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Columbia City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbia City. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia City you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia City

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 Columbia City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbia City.