When to plant pumpkins in Madison: 28 May – 2 July

In Madison, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 26 March to 21 May; plant into a greenhouse from 7 May to 2 July; plant out into open ground from 28 May to 2 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Dane County Farmers' Market - Holiday Market (farm shop, 2 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Madison: soil, season and weather

In Madison the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 27 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 28 May, 31 days later.

Last spring frost	27 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	28 May, 31 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	27 October, 152 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 August – 15 September
Days left for picking	77
Daylight	13:25 on 16 April, 15:03 on 28 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, August, has 10 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Madison: care after planting

Planted on 28 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

18 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 Madison during the pumpkin season

About 565 mm of rain falls in the season; August is the driest month (79 mm) and June the wettest (107 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	20.6	9.9	105	12	14:39
June	26.5	16.2	107	12	15:21
July	27.9	18.4	99	11	15:04
August	26.7	17.3	79	10	13:59
September	23.6	14.3	90	8	12:33
October	16	7.4	85	10	11:06

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

3 of the nearest cities share Madison's date.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Rockford	94 km	28 May – 3 July	same day
Milwaukee	121 km	28 May – 7 July	same day
Davenport	195 km	17 May – 5 July	11 days earlier
Green Bay	196 km	27 May – 5 July	1 day earlier
Chicago	196 km	28 May – 12 July	same day
Cedar Rapids	224 km	20 May – 30 June	8 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Madison

Buy plants ready to set out from 28 May to 2 July (from 7 May to 2 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 26 March to 21 May. Within 15 km of Madison OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 3 plant nurseries, 19 markets and 1 farm shop (collected 20 October 2026).

Dane County Farmers' Market - Holiday Market — farm shop
John Nolen Drive 1, 53701 Madison · Sat 07:30–12:00 · 2 km
The Bruce Company — garden centre
10 km
Madison Greenhouse Lab — garden centre
4 km
K & A Greenhouse — garden centre
14 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