One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant watermelon by looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

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

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Santa Cruz 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 fully mature. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Santa Cruz. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your watermelon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

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 Santa Cruz

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Cruz.