One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of determining when it's the best time to plant melons is to examine the USDA zone info for Banning.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Banning 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Banning. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Banning and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Banning there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Banning

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 Banning

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