When to Plant Pumpkins in Watertown, NY

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.

In Watertown you can figure out when you can plant pumpkins by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

It's a bad idea to plant pumpkins until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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 Watertown 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 grow to maturity. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Watertown the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Watertown and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Watertown you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

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 Watertown

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