One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 opportunity to plant melons in Ketchikan can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

Frost tolerance for melons:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant melons until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Ketchikan 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ketchikan the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ketchikan is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ketchikan there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ketchikan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Ketchikan

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