Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Redding should be looked at to determine when it's the best time to plant watermelon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since watermelon are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Redding 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Redding. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Redding is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Redding you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Redding

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 Redding

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