One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first chance to plant cantaloupes in Fort Myers Beach can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You can not plant cantaloupes until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Fort Myers Beach 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Myers Beach the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Myers Beach is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Myers Beach last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Myers Beach

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 Fort Myers Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Myers Beach.