Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to consult the USDA zone info for El Monte.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Cantaloupes are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in El Monte 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 January 31 in El Monte. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Monte may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in El Monte you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Monte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Monte.