When to Plant Pumpkins in Fort Wayne, IN

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant pumpkins in Fort Wayne should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

It's a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold 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 Fort Wayne 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Wayne. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Wayne and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Wayne there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Wayne

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 Fort Wayne

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Wayne.