One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first chance to plant squash in East Lansing can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

It's not a good idea to plant squash until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant squash in East Lansing 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your squash may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

In East Lansing the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for East Lansing and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in East Lansing you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your squash in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for East Lansing

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 East Lansing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Lansing.