Pumpkin is an annual grown for its fruit, ready to harvest about 110 days after planting. It's hardy across USDA zones 3 through 11. Its summer flowers are a moderate draw for honeybees and native bees, even though the fruit is the prize. As a cucurbit (squash, melon, and cucumber), give it a fresh bed each year — away from where its relatives just grew — so the soil-borne pests and diseases of the family never get a foothold.
Pumpkin — the short answer
Pumpkin: grown in zones 3–11, full sun, pH 4.5–8.3, about 110 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 3–11
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.5–8.3
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 110 days
- Cornell; UMass-Veg
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Pumpkin on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether pumpkin actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score pumpkin against your land's real conditions.
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What pests threaten pumpkin?
Squash bug is documented across the country, and it hits pumpkin where it counts. Here is what it actually does — and the move that beats it.
Squash bug
Act on thisSquash bugs primarily attack squash and pumpkins, and the plants most at risk are the youngest and the ones in flower — the University of Minnesota notes feeding can kill young plants outright, while a larger, sturdier plant shrugs it off.
What to do: Go after where they sleep, not just the bugs. Crush the bronze egg clusters on the leaf undersides in the vein angles, drop nymphs and adults into soapy water, and clear plant debris through the season and again in fall to strip out overwintering shelter. Where squash bugs are a consistent problem, skip straw mulch — it gives them the night shelter they are looking for.
Documented range: the United States · University of Minnesota Extension, University of Illinois IPM, University of Kentucky Entomology
Only pests whose documented range and host relationship both trace to a primary source appear here — so a quiet section means we have nothing sourced to tell you, not that your garden is pest-free.
The full pollinator story for pumpkin:
How to Hand-Pollinate Squash (When Your Zucchini Won't Set Fruit)What Pumpkin is
Pumpkin grows as an annual and reaches around a foot and a half at maturity. It blooms yellow in summer.
How to grow Pumpkin
Pumpkin grows in USDA zones 3 through 11 and is ready to harvest about 110 days after planting. Pumpkin does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.5 to 8.3, on well-drained ground. It needs around 1,100 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 40 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
3-11
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.5 - 8.3
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Minimum Growing Temperature
42.8°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Days to Maturity
110 days
Summer squash / zucchini convention; succession every 21d.
Cornell; UMass-Veg
GDD Required
1100+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
1.5 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
40+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant pumpkin in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
Match the soil
Pumpkin prefers pH 4.5 to 8.3 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Pumpkin is ready about 110 days after planting (Cornell; UMass-Veg). Pick when the fruit is full-colored and parts easily from the stem.
Where Pumpkin thrives
On hardiness alone, pumpkin grows across most of the country — its range (USDA zones 3 through 11) is unusually wide. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 3–11 spans average winter lows from -40°F to 50°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 48 outright and splits 3 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 3–11·Where Pumpkin growsOpen map →
Where Pumpkin stands, state by state
Pumpkin is rated for zones 3–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 48 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 3 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 3–11
48 states
3 of 48 shown
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Pumpkin
Growing guides for pumpkin
In rotation planning, pumpkin counts as a Cucurbit — beds recover best when cucurbit crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Related plants in vegetable
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — pumpkin isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Pumpkin offers moderate value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Before you harvest pumpkin, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant pumpkin for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Pumpkin's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Pumpkin will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether pumpkin actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Pumpkin
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Pumpkin in my zone?
Pumpkin grows in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 11 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Pumpkin take to grow?
Pumpkin is ready to harvest about 110 days after planting (Cornell; UMass-Veg). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Pumpkin?
Most growers plant pumpkin after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed, leaving enough of the season for its 40-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Pumpkin need?
Pumpkin needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Pumpkin need?
Pumpkin prefers soil pH 4.5 to 8.3, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Pumpkin attract pollinators?
Yes — pumpkin's flowers are a solid nectar source for honeybees and native bees. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Is Pumpkin safe for pets?
Pumpkin is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)