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 USDA zone info for Key West can be used to figure out when you can plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons are not cold tolerant it's 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 Key West is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melons and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. You can expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Key West is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to protect your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.