One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 USDA zone info for Tempe can be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant cantaloupes.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Tempe is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Tempe. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Tempe may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Tempe last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Tempe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Tempe

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