One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Dexter you should be able to estimate 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.

You can not plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Dexter 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. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Dexter. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dexter and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dexter you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dexter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Dexter

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