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.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant watermelon by reviewing the USDA zone info for Muscle Shoals.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Watermelon require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Muscle Shoals 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Muscle Shoals the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Muscle Shoals is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Muscle Shoals there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Muscle Shoals

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 Muscle Shoals

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Muscle Shoals.