One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Chester should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Chester 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 really do well. Starting your pumpkins indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

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

USDA Zone Info for Chester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Chester

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