When to Plant Watermelon in Key West, FL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant watermelon in Key West by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant watermelon 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. It might get as low as 45°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Key West and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low45°F
Highest Expected Low50°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.