The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant watermelon in Imperial can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Watermelon require warm weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Imperial. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Imperial and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Imperial you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Imperial

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 Imperial

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