One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant pumpkins by reviewing the USDA zone info for Decatur.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Decatur 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. If you are starting your pumpkins 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 Decatur. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Decatur and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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