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

One way of determining when you can plant pumpkins is to check out the USDA zone info for Newport News.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Newport News 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Newport News. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Newport News is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport News you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport News

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 Newport News

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Newport News.