When to Plant Cantaloupes in South San Francisco, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant cantaloupes is to examine the USDA zone info for South San Francisco.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cantaloupes
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cantaloupes
Probably not a good time to plant cantaloupes

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in South San Francisco 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. Any later than that and 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 South San Francisco the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for South San Francisco and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in South San Francisco it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South San Francisco

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 South San Francisco

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South San Francisco.