One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 a good idea to plant cantaloupes is to use the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

Frost tolerance for cantaloupes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since cantaloupes do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Ridgecrest is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ridgecrest the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ridgecrest you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

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