When to Plant Pumpkins in Bethlehem, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant pumpkins by referring to the USDA zone info for Bethlehem.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Pumpkins do not do well in cold weather which means that you must 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 Bethlehem 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bethlehem. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Bethlehem may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bethlehem last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bethlehem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

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

Plants to Grow in Bethlehem

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