When to plant pumpkins in Peoria: 18 May – 6 July

In Peoria, pumpkin: sow for seedlings from 16 March to 25 May; plant into a greenhouse from 27 April to 6 July; plant out into open ground from 18 May to 6 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Bottom Line Solutions (garden centre, 12 km) and Ron's Produce (farm shop, 15 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Pumpkin in Peoria: soil, season and weather

In Peoria the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 19 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the pumpkin card — only around 18 May, 29 days later.

Last spring frost	19 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	18 May, 29 days after the last frost
First autumn frost	31 October, 166 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	75
First harvest, if planted in this window	1 August – 19 September
Days left for picking	91
Daylight	12:53 on 6 April, 14:32 on 18 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 5 days; the driest month, September, has 7 rainy days

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

Pumpkin in Peoria: care after planting

Planted on 18 May: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

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

8 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 Peoria during the pumpkin season

About 543 mm of rain falls in the season; September is the driest month (57 mm) and May the wettest (123 mm).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	23	12.5	123	12	14:26
June	28.5	18.3	90	11	15:04
July	29.3	20.1	94	12	14:49
August	28.3	19.1	82	10	13:49
September	25.9	16.4	57	7	12:31
October	18.6	9.6	97	10	11:11

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Pumpkin in nearby cities

Around Peoria, St. Louis is 10 days earlier and Rockford 10 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Springfield	99 km	15 May – 7 July	3 days earlier
Davenport	129 km	17 May – 5 July	1 day earlier
Rockford	180 km	28 May – 3 July	10 days later
Chicago	211 km	28 May – 12 July	10 days later
Cedar Rapids	224 km	20 May – 30 June	2 days later
St. Louis	235 km	8 May – 10 July	10 days earlier

Where to buy pumpkin plants and seeds near Peoria

Buy plants ready to set out from 18 May to 6 July (from 27 April to 6 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 16 March to 25 May. Within 15 km of Peoria OpenStreetMap lists 3 garden centres, 1 market and 1 farm shop (collected 28 October 2026).

Bottom Line Solutions — garden centre
Cooper Road 25356, 61550 Morton · 12 km · enduraplas.com
Peoria Farmer's Market at Metro Centre — market
Mon–Sat 08:00–12:00; Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr closed · 6 km · shopmetrocentre.com
Ron's Produce — farm shop
North Radnor Road 10213, Peoria · 15 km
Level Up Seed and Garden Supply — garden centre
1 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