When to plant pumpkins in Lincoln: 11 May – 3 July

In Lincoln, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 9 March to 22 May; plant into a greenhouse from 20 April to 3 July; plant out into open ground from 11 May to 3 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Miller Seed Company (farm supply, 4 km) and Nebraska Nursery and Color Gardens (plant nursery, 8 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Lincoln: soil, season and weather

In Lincoln the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 16 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 11 May, 25 days later.

Last spring frost	16 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	11 May, 25 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	28 October, 170 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	25 July – 16 September
Days left for picking	95
Daylight	12:34 on 30 March, 14:18 on 11 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, September, has 7 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Lincoln: care after planting

Planted on 11 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

1 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 Lincoln during the pumpkin season

About 505 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (59 mm) and May the wettest (128 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	23.5	12.2	128	13	14:26
June	30.6	19	101	10	15:05
July	31.2	20.8	76	8	14:50
August	29.9	19.5	74	9	13:50
September	27.3	16.6	59	7	12:31
October	19.3	8.5	67	7	11:10

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Lincoln, Topeka is 5 days earlier and Sioux Falls 13 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Omaha	79 km	17 May – 1 July	6 days later
Grand Island	143 km	18 May – 2 July	7 days later
Topeka	215 km	6 May – 4 July	5 days earlier
Kansas City	261 km	7 May – 7 July	4 days earlier
Des Moines	271 km	17 May – 2 July	6 days later
Sioux Falls	304 km	24 May – 26 June	13 days later

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Lincoln

Buy plants ready to set out from 11 May to 3 July (from 20 April to 3 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 9 March to 22 May. Within 15 km of Lincoln OpenStreetMap lists 7 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 7 plant nurseries and 1 market (collected 28 October 2026).

Nebraska Nursery and Color Gardens — plant nursery
South Coddington Avenue 4240, 68523 Lincoln · 8 km
Miller Seed Company — farm supply
Cornhusker Highway 1600, 68521 Lincoln · 4 km
Farmers Market — market
Sun 10:00–14:00 · 4 km
Menards Garden Center — garden centre
4 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