One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 USDA zone info for Petal should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant squash.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

Since squash require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Petal 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. Any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your squash 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 March 15 in Petal. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Petal is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Petal there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your squash if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Petal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Petal

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