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

The USDA zone info for Sioux Center should be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant cantaloupes.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Sioux Center 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 cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Sioux Center. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sioux Center is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sioux Center there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sioux Center

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 Sioux Center

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sioux Center.