The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant pumpkins is to examine the USDA zone info for Hastings.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Hastings 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. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to really do well. 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Hastings. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hastings and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Hastings you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hastings

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 Hastings

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