The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's the best time to plant watermelon is to check out the USDA zone info for Marshall.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Marshall 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. If you wait any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marshall. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marshall is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Marshall you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marshall

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Marshall

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Marshall.