One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 Cottonwood.

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 need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Cottonwood 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Cottonwood. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

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

USDA Zone Info for Cottonwood

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 Cottonwood

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