Pumpkin
Vegetables · Sow outdoors or set out
Pumpkin planting dates
At usual odds in 2026: Apr 27 – Jul 17.
The guide's rule After last frost to 15 weeks before first frost.
Frost odds · chance of a freezing night after your spring date
The 2026 season
Start indoors Plant out / sow Frost risk
At all three odds
| Frost odds | Start indoors | Plant / sow |
|---|---|---|
| Bold (1 in 2) | Mar 23 – Jun 23 | Apr 20 – Jul 21 |
| Usual (3 in 10) | Mar 30 – Jun 19 | Apr 27 – Jul 17 |
| Careful (1 in 10) | Apr 7 – Jun 10 | May 5 – Jul 8 |
- Days to first harvest
- 100-120 after transplanting
- How it goes in
- Sow outdoors or set out 4 weeks indoors to transplant size
- Frost
- Tops tender Foliage is tender; pumpkins take a light frost or two.
- Soil to germinate
- 65-85°F
Plan it in your Garden Book
The book checks your date against the window and tells you when the first harvest could come.
Plus Free Garden Books hold 8 plantings a season; Seed Clock Plus holds 120: $1.95/month or $19.50/year. Free during preview What Plus adds
Source: Montana State University Extension, MontGuide MT199308AG, "Can I Grow That Here? Vegetable Seed and Transplant Schedules for Garden or Container" (reviewed August 2013), read with NOAA 1991-2020 freeze odds for Cleveland Hopkins. Wording ours; how we read the guide.