When to Plant Watermelon in Waverly, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Waverly you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant watermelon.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant watermelon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant watermelon
Probably not a good time to plant watermelon

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Waverly 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. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Waverly. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Waverly is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Waverly last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waverly

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 Waverly

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