One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lake Alfred you can determine when it's the best time to plant watermelon by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Lake Alfred is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Lake Alfred the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Alfred is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Alfred last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your watermelon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Alfred

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Alfred

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Alfred.