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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Bell it's a good idea to estimate 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 all chance of frost has passed.

Cantaloupes require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Bell is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. If you wait 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

In Bell the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Bell is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bell you get a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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