When to Plant Watermelon in Punta Gorda, FL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant watermelon in Punta Gorda can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant watermelon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant watermelon
Probably not a good time to plant watermelon

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Punta Gorda is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Punta Gorda. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Punta Gorda and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Punta Gorda it frosts late in the year after January 31 so always be ready to protect your watermelon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Punta Gorda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Punta Gorda

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Punta Gorda.