One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant melons by referring to the USDA zone info for Alachua.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Alachua 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Alachua. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Alachua is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Alachua there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alachua

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 Alachua

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