One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The best time to plant melons in Cape Coral can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Cape Coral 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Cape Coral. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cape Coral may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cape Coral last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cape Coral

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 Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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 Cape Coral

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cape Coral.