When to Plant Pumpkins in Forest Lake, MN

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Forest Lake you will be able to determine when it's possible to plant pumpkins.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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 Forest Lake is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Forest Lake the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Forest Lake is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Forest Lake it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Lake.