One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Waycross it's possible to estimate when to plant watermelon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

It's a bad idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Waycross 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waycross the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waycross is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Waycross you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your watermelon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waycross

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 Waycross

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