One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant watermelon is to check out the USDA zone info for Live Oak.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Live Oak is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Live Oak. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Live Oak is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Live Oak last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Live Oak

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Live Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Live Oak.