When to plant pumpkins in Cincinnati: 13 May – 15 July

In Cincinnati, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 11 March to 3 June; plant into a greenhouse from 22 April to 15 July; plant out into open ground from 13 May to 15 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Fern (garden centre, 2 km) and Keystone Flora (garden centre, 6 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Cincinnati: soil, season and weather

In Cincinnati the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 11 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 13 May, 32 days later.

Last spring frost	11 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	13 May, 32 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	9 November, 180 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	27 July – 28 September
Days left for picking	105
Daylight	12:38 on 1 April, 14:14 on 13 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, September, has 7 rainy days

The same dates in Cincinnati hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini and Watermelon.

Pumpkin in Cincinnati: care after planting

Planted on 13 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

3 June — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of pumpkin to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Cincinnati during the pumpkin season

About 643 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (75 mm) and May the wettest (125 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	23.3	13	125	15	14:18
June	28.3	17.8	99	12	14:54
July	30.1	20.2	109	13	14:40
August	28.9	19.1	83	12	13:44
September	26.6	16.4	75	7	12:29
October	20.1	10.1	76	10	11:14
November	12	3	76	9	10:04

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Cincinnati, Louisville is 6 days earlier and Columbus 7 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Dayton	75 km	16 May – 15 July	3 days later
Frankfort	108 km	13 May – 9 July	same day
Lexington	127 km	15 May – 13 July	2 days later
Louisville	146 km	7 May – 17 July	6 days earlier
Indianapolis	159 km	16 May – 12 July	3 days later
Columbus	159 km	20 May – 8 July	7 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Cincinnati

Buy plants ready to set out from 13 May to 15 July (from 22 April to 15 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 11 March to 3 June. Within 15 km of Cincinnati OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres, 6 markets and 2 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Burger Farm and Garden Center — garden centre
Main Street 7849, 45244 Newtown · 15 km · burgerfarms.com
Keystone Flora — garden centre
Wooden Shoe Lane 5045, 45232 Cincinnati · 6 km · keystoneflora.com
Convenient Gardens — garden centre
Paxton Avenue 3862, 45209 Cincinnati · 7 km · convenientgardens.com
Fern — garden centre
East McMillan Street 737, 45206 Cincinnati · 2 km

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Questions