When to Plant Pumpkins in Zone 5a

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant pumpkins in Zone 5a by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

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

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed 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 Zone 5a 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

In Zone 5a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5a and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.