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

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant pumpkins is to use the USDA zone info for Sparta.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

You can not plant pumpkins until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Sparta 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. If you wait any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pumpkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Sparta the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sparta and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sparta there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pumpkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

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 Sparta

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