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.

In Nevada you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant watermelon by referring to 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.

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 Nevada 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. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Nevada the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Nevada is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Nevada you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your watermelon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Nevada

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Nevada

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