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

By referring to the USDA zone info for Fitzgerald you will be able to estimate when to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant melons until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Fitzgerald is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Fitzgerald. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fitzgerald is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Fitzgerald it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fitzgerald

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Fitzgerald

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fitzgerald.